Georgia's unemployed growing in number

As the economy falls, unemployment numbers in Georgia just keep going up, and for many parts of the state the bad news just keeps coming.
Layoffs, according to the State's Labor Department, are hitting industries ranging from carpet plant workers to real estate developers.
Georgia's jobless rate is now 7-percent, the highest it's been in 16 years. This news comes as 90 employees at Coachmen Industries in Fitzgerald, are wrapping up their last week at work due to layoffs.
In the last year the town of 9-thousand also saw the closing of a yarn factory where more than 500 people worked. It's a scene being repeated across the state. Economists expect job losses across Georgia to grow until at least 2010.

Fitzgerald plant closure to put 500+ out of work

The Georgia Department of Labor says all 556 workers of a carpet fiber plant in Fitzgerald will be affected when the plant closes in November. State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond says in a statement that the closure of Shaw Industries will create a difficult situation for workers and the community. Last August, the company closed one of its plants in Tifton, causing over 200 people there to lose their jobs. Thurmond says the department will work with Shaw management to offer help to those losing their jobs in Fitzgerald.