According to a story [1] in the Savannah Morning News, unemployment claims in Gainesville and Rome rose during the month of October. Gainesville saw 190 more claims filed, an increase of 51.6%. In Rome, unemployment claims rose from 466 in September to 599 in October, an increase of 28.5%. Statewide, over 41,000 workers filed first-time unemployment claims, an increase of 29.1% from September and an increase of 5.2% from the number of first-time claims filed in October of 2006.