The first jobs report fully under the new Trump administration showed a softening job market, with the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.1% in February, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures released March 7.

Job growth increased but fell below expectations, one of several possible fissures appearing in the once rock-solid labor market. Businesses are pulling back on hiring as the economic forecast and policy outlook grow murkier due to volatile trade policies and large cuts to the federal workforce.

Federal government employment fell by 10,000 in February, pushing up total cuts to the federal workforce. In the first two months of 2025, 62,530 federal workers were let go. However, the most recent cuts, including the Department of Education's workforce getting slashed by nearly half, have not yet appeared in official jobs data. Retail employment also fell by 6,000.

The broader unemployment index, known as the U-6, which also includes laborers working part-time because they can't find full-time work, and those who want to work but have given up searching, rose to 8%, its highest since October 2021.

To get a glimpse of regional variations in employment, Stacker compiled a list of counties with the highest unemployment rates in Georgia, using BLS data. Counties are ranked by their preliminary unemployment rate in January 2025, with initial ties broken by the number of unemployed people within that county, though some ties may remain. County-level unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.

Key takeaways: Jobs report shows softening labor market

February's job growth of 151,000 fell below economists' expected gains of 160,000, showing the labor market is cooling faster than predicted. Experts say many companies weighing policy changes and economic uncertainty are deciding it's safer to hold off on hiring decisions for now.

"If you were a company and you were saying, 'I'm looking to expand, or I'm looking to hire,' you would have investors in those companies saying, 'Are you crazy?'" Ron Hetrick, senior labor economist at Lightcast, told Marketplace.

Consumer spending fell in January for the first time in two years, which may have led to layoffs or hiring slowdowns, Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist, told NBC News.

The big story: From bold promises to frozen labor market

After an initial market pop following Trump's electoral win, indexes have slumped to below when he took office, and uncertainty about the future of the markets is a common theme. Are threatened tariffs in place, delayed, reversed, or ramped up? Has that federal worker been fired or given their job back? Are those federal dollars slashed or reinstated? It's a question mark that changes daily.

Research shows that uncertainty invites lower investment, slows employment, and increases financial market volatility. The word "uncertain" showed up 47 times in the March edition of the Beige Book, the Federal Reserve's snapshot of reports from across the nation, compared to 17 times in the previous report from January.

The new administration's blitz of executive orders and trade policy waffling have cast a dense fog over the short-term economic outlook. One thing that is known? Uncertainty isn't good for business planning, job creation, or hiring.

In a March 12 interview with Semafor, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon noted that average consumers likely don't change "what they're going to do because they read about tariffs," but "companies might."

"Uncertainty is not a good thing," Dimon added.

To get a better idea of your community's current economy, read on to see the counties with the highest unemployment in Georgia.

48. Liberty County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 23,799 people (956 unemployed)

48. Lowndes County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 49,011 people (1,936 unemployed)

48. Dooly County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,713 people (147 unemployed)

39. Chattooga County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: -0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,877 people (363 unemployed)

39. Rockdale County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: 0.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 47,672 people (1,961 unemployed)

39. Randolph County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: -0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,698 people (111 unemployed)

39. Wilkinson County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: 0.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,093 people (128 unemployed)

39. Screven County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: -1.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,719 people (235 unemployed)

39. Turner County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: -0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,746 people (154 unemployed)

39. Upson County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: -0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 12,881 people (533 unemployed)

39. Lincoln County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,087 people (127 unemployed)

39. Emanuel County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: -0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 9,918 people (406 unemployed)

31. Taylor County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,874 people (122 unemployed)

31. Newton County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: -0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: 0.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 59,296 people (2,491 unemployed)

31. Ben Hill County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: -0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,906 people (293 unemployed)

31. Stephens County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: 0.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 10,534 people (440 unemployed)

31. Laurens County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 19,598 people (827 unemployed)

31. Lanier County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: -1.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: 0.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,949 people (166 unemployed)

31. Warren County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,428 people (101 unemployed)

31. Greene County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,860 people (331 unemployed)

24. Toombs County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 11,776 people (512 unemployed)

24. Whitfield County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: -2.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 48,343 people (2,083 unemployed)

24. Clayton County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: -0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 146,516 people (6,345 unemployed)

24. Jefferson County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: -0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,699 people (290 unemployed)

24. Lamar County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,665 people (329 unemployed)

24. Early County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,597 people (156 unemployed)

24. Seminole County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: 0.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,199 people (139 unemployed)

21. Webster County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +1.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 982 people (43 unemployed)

21. Ware County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +1.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 12,668 people (553 unemployed)

21. Bibb County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 62,467 people (2,725 unemployed)

17. Muscogee County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 82,230 people (3,695 unemployed)

17. Montgomery County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,464 people (156 unemployed)

17. Meriwether County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,598 people (384 unemployed)

17. McDuffie County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: -0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 9,124 people (415 unemployed)

16. Treutlen County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.6%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,503 people (115 unemployed)

14. Baker County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.7%
--- 1-month change: +1.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 880 people (41 unemployed)

14. Talbot County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.7%
--- 1-month change: +1.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,338 people (110 unemployed)

12. Dougherty County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 32,877 people (1,591 unemployed)

12. Jeff Davis County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,682 people (272 unemployed)

11. Twiggs County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.9%
--- 1-month change: -0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: 0.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,708 people (134 unemployed)

9. Telfair County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5%
--- 1-month change: -0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -1.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,068 people (152 unemployed)

9. Richmond County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5%
--- 1-month change: -0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 84,090 people (4,240 unemployed)

8. Sumter County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 11,671 people (596 unemployed)

7. Stewart County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.2%
--- 1-month change: +2.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,388 people (72 unemployed)

5. Terrell County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,268 people (176 unemployed)

5. Burke County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.4%
--- 1-month change: -0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: 0.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 10,311 people (552 unemployed)

4. Hancock County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.5%
--- 1-month change: -0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,679 people (147 unemployed)

3. Clay County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.8%
--- 1-month change: -0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -1.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 955 people (55 unemployed)

2. Quitman County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 666 people (41 unemployed)

1. Chattahoochee County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 8.2%
--- 1-month change: +3.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +3.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,229 people (101 unemployed)

This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani, writing by Ben Popken, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 50 states.

You may also like: Cities with the fastest-growing home prices in Georgia