One in 10 potential workers in the Gainesville area is looking for a job, state figures show.

The unemployment rate in Hall County hit 10 percent in January, according to Georgia Department of Labor data. The area's jobless rate was up from 9.1 percent in December as the number of unemployed workers in the area increased to 8,806, up 720 from 8,086 in December.

Georgia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 10.4 percent in January, topping the previous record high of 10.3 percent reported in December. It is the 28th consecutive month that Georgia's jobless rate has exceeded the national unemployment rate of 9.7 percent.

Last year, the jobless rate both in Gainesville and statewide was 8.4 percent.

The Georgia Mountains area posted an unemployment rate of 10.3 percent, up a full percentage point from December to January. Some 2,832 more area residents were out of work during that period.

The Northeast Georgia area rate rose to 10.7 percent in January, up from 9.8 percent the previous month. In metro Athens, the rate is 8.4 percent, up a percentage point from 7.4 percent in December.

Atlanta's jobless rate nosed up to 10.8 percent, with the number of unemployed workers in the metro area increasing to 289,555.

Georgia labor market data are available at the department Web site.