The jobless rate in Newton County and across the metro Atlanta area rose from April 2015 to May 2015.

Newton County’s unemployment rate has increased to 6.8 percent in May.

That is slightly up from 6.5 percent in April 2015 but down almost 2 percent from May 2014 (8.3).

In May 2015, 45,018 Newton County residents were employed of the 48,304-member labor force. The Georgia Department of Labor recorded 3,286 unemployed in Newton County.

Rockdale’s unemployment rate also ticked up slightly from April to May going from 6.3 percent to 6.6 percent unemployment in the last month.

State officials say metro Atlanta's jobless rate has increased to 5.9 percent.

That's up from 5.6 percent in April.

The Georgia Department of Labor on Thursday announced the new figure for May. The rate in May 2014 was 6.9 percent.

State labor officials say Georgia's labor force grew, and that new people entering the job market are counted as unemployed.

Elsewhere in Georgia, the Gainesville area had the lowest area jobless rate at 5.1 percent. The Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 7.7 percent.

The local area unemployment figures are not seasonally adjusted.