The Georgia Department of Labor announced that the unemployment rate in the Middle Georgia region increased five-tenths of a percentage point to 6.3 percent, up from 5.8 percent in September. The rate in October 2015 was 6.4 percent.

The rate rose as the number of new layoffs and unemployed residents increased.

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance, a measure of new layoffs, rose by 1,470, or 122.6 percent, to 2,669 in October. Most of the increase came in manufacturing. Over the year, claims were up by 333, or 14.3 percent, from 2,336 in October 2015.

The labor force, which consists of employed residents and those who are unemployed but actively looking for jobs, rose by 1,854 to 218,148. The number of employed residents increased by 643 to 204,336, while the number of unemployed increased by 1,211 to 13,812, which contributed to the rate hike.

Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 4.4 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 7 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for October was 5.2 percent, up from 5.1 percent in September. It was 5.5 percent in October 2015.