Rural Unemployment in Double Digits

Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond testified to Congress Today (Thursday). Thurmond was there to ask for more federal money and brief lawmakers how current stimulus funding is being spent to aid the unemployed in Georgia.

While Atlanta and Macon are seeing the job picture brighten up, much, if not all of rural Georgia is facing double digit unemployment rates.

According to the state labor department, there are three---what could
be described as--- blight belts in the state:

The corridor between Atlanta and Augusta, the Wiregrass highway in South Georgia, and the region between Atlanta and Chattanooga.

Some counties in these regions are facing unemployment as high as twenty percent.

State labor commissioner Michael Thurmond has warned the manufacturing sector in these areas is likely to continue to struggle. Thurmond is in Washington looking for
more federal funds in part, to maintain the future solvency of the unemployment trust fund as jobless rates, especially in rural areas, remains high.