First-time claims for unemployment assistance increased by more than 1,000 in Floyd County in December.

Some 2,369 Floyd citizens made initial claims with the Department of Labor, up from 1,350 first time claimants in November.

“That’s much higher than I would have anticipated. It’s my hope that we’ve bottomed out,” said Al Hodge, president of the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce.

The state actually pumped more than $1.6 million in unemployment benefits into Floyd County during December. That was up by more than $600,000 from the total of jobless benefits issued to Floyd County citizens in November. The average weekly unemployment check added up to a little more than $224 in December.

Construction and manufacturing jobs took the largest hit in December with nearly a third of the layoffs in Floyd County.

There was some degree of good news in the DOL report issued Friday. While first-time claims in Floyd County and its neighbors were up from November to December, all were down as compared to December 2008.

Floyd County first-time claims in December were down 20.9 percent from December of 2008. Bartow County’s initial claims dropped by 55.7 percent from the prior December; Gordon County experienced a 35.4 percent year-to-year decline, Polk County’s initial claims dropped by 37 percent while Chattooga County was down a modest 3.7 percent.