Shaw Closing Two More Plants

There are another two plant closings on the horizon in Georgia. Officials with Shaw Industries say its facilities in Calhoun and Valdosta will close, leaving about 600 workers without jobs. The struggling economy is cited as the reason. The Dalton-based carpet manufacturer says the layoffs will begin in the next five to six weeks. Shaw is the world’s largest maker of carpets.

LaGrange Company To Idle 100+ Workers

A company in LaGrange that makes gas and electric cooking appliances is hitting its workforce with a second round of lay-offs in a three-month period. Roper Corporation will furlough 120 workers temporarily by the end of this month. It follows a similar action last month that laid-off more than 250 workers.

The company cites the continued economic downturn as reason for the lay-offs. Roper Corporation makes appliances under the G.E., Profile, and Monogram brands.

Unemployment Claims Spike 80% Over 1 Year

The first numbers of the year on unemployment claims filed in Georgia are out. The state's Labor Department reports 120,139 laid-off workers filed first-time claims for benefits in January. That represents a spike of over 80 percent from January 2008. Of metro regions in the state, Dalton felt the highest number of unemployment claims--up 164 percent.

State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond says with so many talented, experienced and educated workers now flooding the job market, those with the highest levels of persistence will be the most successful in landing employment.

State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond says this is becoming a "Darwinian job market.":

"The growing number of layoffs has created a surplus of jobseekers who are talented, experienced, educated, and well-trained. In this challenging environment, the most successful jobseekers will be those who demonstrate the highest levels of persistence, determination, and above all, flexibility when looking for work."

Most of the state initial claims were filed by laid-off workers in manufacturing, trade, administrative services, including temporary employment agencies, and construction.

Thurmond urges jobseekers to continue to look for work, explore training and education opportunities and to make full use of the department's reemployment services available at the 53 Georgia Department of Labor Career Centers around the state. The locations of the career centers may be accessed via the internet at www.dol.state.ga.us.

State Jobless Claims Up 174 Percent

"Stunning and sobering" is how Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond described December's job numbers.

There were over 125 thousand initial claims in Decmeber 2008, compared to just under 50 thousand the same time last year.

In Northwest Georgia, initial claims are up one hundred percent. Over three thousand claims were filed in Floyd county alone.

(special hat tip to druck at www.hometownheadlines.com)

Cagle: Expect a 'Painful Session' Over Recession

Show us the money.

That'll be the refrain when Georgia's Legislature returns to Atlanta on Monday and lawmakers will grapple with a massive budget shortfall that will color nearly every decision that's made under the Gold Dome.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has already ordered most state agencies to slash their budgets by 8 percent. State workers have been furloughed. Fees at public colleges are rising. Health benefits for the poor are being scaled back.

And the cuts could go deeper if the economy continues to worsen. Tumbling state revenues have ripped a deficit in the budget that's expected to top $2 billion for the current fiscal year. It comes as the recession pumps up the demand for government services like Medicaid, food stamps and unemployment benefits.

At the same time, Georgia is wrestling with vexing - and costly - infrastructure needs to keep up with booming growth in metro Atlanta. Roadways are clogged with traffic. Additional reservoirs are needed to quench the region's fast-growing thirst.

"It's going to be a painful session," predicted Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.

Tax increases to fill the budget gap appear to be off the table. Republican legislative leaders have been cool to proposals that would slap new levies on strip club patrons, cigarettes or groceries.

Instead, they're talking about capping the rate at which home assessments can rise, a move that would hobble the ability of cash-strapped local governments to raise revenue.

Conservative Republicans cast the budget woes as an opportunity to "right-size" state government and get back to basics.

"It gives us the chance to really prioritize and figure out what government is here for," said Kelly McCutchen, vice president of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, an Atlanta-based conservative think tank.

The first salvo in the budget battle will come Wednesday when Perdue unveils his spending plan. He's pledged to include an aggressive bond package to kick start the state's economy by borrowing to fund road projects and school construction.

Legislators will be able to tinker with how the money is spent. But they won't be able to change the overall amount the state may spend. The governor has the sole authority to set that figure and the state is constitutionally prohibited from running a deficit.

The latest news from state money managers was bleak. On Friday, they reported that tax collections plunged 8.9 percent for December from the same month the year before. For the fiscal year that began July 1 revenues slumped by 2.7 percent, dragged down by sluggish sales and income taxes.

Already, advocates are jockeying to shield their pet issues.

"We are extremely concerned about how these budget cuts will affect Georgia's children," said Pat Willis, executive director of Voices for Georgia's Children.

David Blanchard, who lobbies for Georgians with developmental disabilities, summed it up this way: "We're bracing for the worst."

"The state is not meeting the needs (of the developmentally disabled) today. The idea that we would go backward really does make so many people nervous," Blanchard said.

The focus on the budget meltdown is likely to mean other legislation will take a back seat this session.

"I think everyone is so focused on the budget, that I really don't expect this to be a banner year for new legislation," said state Sen. Cecil Staton, a Macon Republican. "I don't hear a lot of people talking about lots of new bills."

Of course, there will be some exceptions.

A plan to fund transportation improvements could move quickly this session after falling just short of the needed votes last year. The plan would likely allow local governments to band together to assess a one-cent sales tax to fund road improvements.

School vouchers could also emerge as a politically charged brawl. State Sen. Eric Johnson, a Savannah Republican, has said he wants to give parents in failing school districts more options.

But the top Democrat in the state Senate predicted "the nuclear fight over universal vouchers will be more explosive than the Republican budget crisis."

"After years of deliberate underfunding, Republicans have severely weakened our public schools," said state Sen. Robert Brown, of Macon. "Now, they are aiming to drive a stake in the heart of our children's future with universal vouchers."

But for the most part, it will be a session focused on the state's pocketbook.

"It's going to be a legislative session of making cuts where it hurts the least," said state Sen. Don Thomas, a Dalton Republican.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about the Georgia Legislature.

(AP)

Synovus, Capital One cutting Columbus jobs

Columbus-based Synovus Financial Corporation said Wednesday they were cutting back 230 positions.

Company officials say that’s out of 650 posts in total among their five-state operation, and that over half the losses were due to attrition. The cutback will be spread over the next two years.

Synovus is Georgia’s second-largest banking institution.

In addition, The Associated Press reports that Capital One it will close its GreenPoint Mortgage
servicing center in Columbus, eliminating 220 jobs by the end of the year, including customer service, production support, collections and investor reporting.

Atlanta-based Simmons Bedding also plans to close its Mableton plant and lay off 103 employees this month.

Simmons Chairman and CEO Charlie Eitel says the Sept. 18 layoffs come amid "excess capacity" after the company expanded operations, and "difficult times" in the bedding and home furnishings industries.

Local manufacturing will move to plants in Waycross and Charlotte, N.C. The plant had reduced shifts from two to one this spring, cut about 50 jobs and transferred operations to a plant in Dallas.

The cutbacks come as 59,090 Georgians filed first-time unemployment claims in August, according to Department of Labor officials - a 72-percent rise since last year.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about the latest job cuts.

(The AP contributed to this report)

'Mohawk' announces another Georgia plant closure

There is more pain in the north Georgia job market. Mohawk Industries says it is closing its Dahlonega plant. The move will put 366 people out of work in June. The Calhoun-based carpet and flooring manufacturer has about 36-thousand employees worldwide, and is one of the largest employers in northeast Georgia. The announcement continues a run of bad news in the midst of a housing slowdown. In September, Mohawk said it was closing plants its Mohawk Home plants in Dalton and Calhoun. The company said it was getting out of the woven throw, decorative pillow and woven bedspread business.