Georgia's 8.1 percent unemployment rate is the highest in the nation, according to a federal report released this morning.

The surprising increase in the jobless rate became fodder for Georgia's top political candidates, as Gov. Nathan Deal suggested that politicking was behind the "historically faulty" data and Democrat Jason Carter accused him of a scattershot economic philosophy.

Georgia had the second-worst jobless rate, behind only Mississippi, for the month of July. But Mississippi's rate improved to 7.9 percent in August, while Georgia's ticked up a few tenths of a percent.