State Unemployment Rate Hits New High

There are new and sobering numbers this morning on unemployment in Georgia. The state’s labor department says the seasonally adjustment jobless rate for May is now the highest ever recorded in Georgia—9.7 percent. That is up five-tenths of a percentage point from April’s mark. And for a 19th consecutive month, Georgia's rate is above the national rate(currently 9.4 percent). Commissiioner Michael Thurmond says the new rate reminds us "the road to economic recovery will be long and difficult." Last month, more than 463,000 Georgians were looking for work.

Big Turnout For 50+ NCR Jobs in W GA

A job fair in Columbus over the weekend drew more than 1,600 people applying for an initial 53 jobs. The openings are for NCR Corporation, which recently announced its move to Georgia from Dayton,Ohio. The maker of ATM’s and other automated technology equipment is moving headquarters to Duluth, while establishing a manufacturing plant in Columbus. Salaries for positions at the Columbus-plant would average around $40,000 dollars.

Extended Unemployment Benefits In The Mail

Good news for the unemployed in Georgia—those on the rolls of the Department of Labor and who qualify will soon be getting extended jobless benefits checks. The payments are part of the state’s emergency extension of benefits-made possible by the federal stimulus and approved by the state legislature. This extension is expected to bolster a little more than 40,000 jobless Georgians with another 20 weeks of payments.

Meanwhile, just released this morning, new numbers from the state’s Department of Labor. Statistics show a continued increase in claims filed for unemployment benefits, but a rise at a slower rate. 75,436 workers who filed claims represent an increase of 68-percent over May of last year. But, officials say initial claims from this April to last month were down in 11 of Georgia’s 14 metro areas.

Georgia Gazette Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Join host Rickey Bevington tonight for Georgia Gazette. On tonight's show …Tech Giant NCR moving to Georgia... creating over 2,000 jobs. The details. Is Georgia's seafood industry on ice? The state of the shrimping business from a man who's rolled with the changes. And Savannah-born actor Stacey Keach turns 68 today. We track his career. These stories and more tonight on Georgia Gazette at 6, 7 in Athens, re-broadcast at 11, hear our show any time at www.gpb.org/georgiagazette , and download a free podcast on iTunes.

State Unemployment Nearly Steady

State labor officials report a 9.3 percent unemployment rate for April, almost unchanged from the previous two months. State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond says the numbers suggest to him Georgia's labor market "may be beginning to stabilize."

Meanwhile, in northwest Georgia, a carpet dye company is set to add 300 jobs to the region. Bently Dye made expansion plans in the Calhoun area late last year with the purchase of 42 acres for a new plant to make polyester and carpet yarn. Currently, the company employs 80 people.

Delta Adds Jobs

More jobs are on their way to Georgia. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines will add up to 500 positions in the Atlanta area as a result of its merger with Northwest Airlines. And a call center is setting up shop in Columbus instead of moving overseas. Prosperity America says it will hire 300 employees over the next three years to staff the call center.

Home Depot Brings Jobs to South Georgia

Several hundred jobs are on the way to south Georgia. Home Depot Thursday announced the opening of a distribution center in Lowndes County. Office and warehouse positions will be created over the next few years at the facility. The Atlanta-based company is the world’s largest home improvement retailer.

Baxley Sawmill To Stay Open--With Cutbacks

A lumber company says it will not be closing its sawmill in Baxley. Officials with Rayonier Inc. say they previously planned to suspend operations at its mills in Baxley and Eatonton because of lack of demand. But the company reconsidered after prices for certain types of lumber recently rose. Rayonier officials say they plan to continue operating the Baxley mill--but only on one shift. 57 of the mill's 137 workers will be laid off. The Eatonton mill was reduced to one shift in January and now employs 73 people.

Unemployment Claims Jump Big Over Year's Time

New numbers this morning from the state Labor Department show 96,306 laid-off workers filed first-time claims for unemployment benefits in March. It represents an increase of 126-percent from the same month a year ago.

The metro area with the highest jump in claims was Gainesville, followed by Rome and Brunswick.

Claims filed came from laid-off workers in manufacturing, trade, construction, as well as administrative and support services.

Verizon Creates Additional 600 Georgia Jobs

A major wireless communications company is expanding its operations in the state, bringing more investment and jobs to Georgia. Verizon Wireless will open a new customer service center in metro Atlanta’s Alpahretta. Jeff Mango, president of Verizon's Georgia/Alabama region, says the move brings 600 news jobs and $27 million in investment to the area:

"That brings us over 90 facilities across the state of Georgia. And these 600 employees, is added to our existing Verizon Wireless employess of 4,000 across the state."

Mango says recruiting and hiring for the jobs will continue through May. Training for all 600 new employees would be complete by early next year.

More Furloughs For Savannah's Gulfstream

Gulfstream in Savannah says another 170 workers are being furloughed amid down sales in the struggling economy. A spokesman for the Georgia business jet maker says those furloughs will run through April 19th. Back in March, Gulfstream announced it would furlough at least 1,500 workers for five weeks starting in July.

Georgia Hits Jobless Record

Georgia has hit another record-high in the number of residents out-of-work. New numbers in from the state’s Labor Department show the unemployment rate rose from 8.5 percent in January, to 9.3 percent in February. More than 445,000 Georgians are currently without work--a rise of nearly 70 percent over a year’s time.

Job losses again came across-the-board in many areas, like construction, manufacturing and trade. However, there are some bright spots to report. Jobs have been added in educational and health services, state and local education, and in the federal government sector.

Coffee County Gets Needed Jobs Infusion

The announcement of a construction products-maker bringing jobs and investment to south Georgia may be the start of a rebound for an area recently hard-hit by layoffs.

GreenTech Manufacturing will set up a facility in the city of Douglas in Coffee County. The company, which makes environmentally-friendly construction products, is expected to generate more than 300 jobs and $20-million of investment for the area.

It’s badly-needed good news in the face of the recent announcement that a Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plant in the rural county is closing, putting 900 people out of work.

But Governor Perdue spokesperson Bert Brantley says the state may be only weeks away from finding a replacement buyer to keep at least some of the chicken growers, and perhaps laid-off plant workers in the region, employed:

"If we can get at least something moving forward and some of these growers with a place to send their product hopefully when the rebound comes and the growth returns we’ll be in a position to take advantage of that and grow even faster out of it."

For now, Brantley says applications and resumes for jobs with GreenTech are being accepted.

Coweta Co. Gets Jobs and Investment Infusion

The opening of a high-tech distribution center in west Georgia’s Coweta County this spring will bring the area an infusion of around 100 jobs. D-and-H Distributing is a computer products and consumer electronics company that announced plans this week to build a $40-million facility in Newnan. The Pennsylvania-based company says the distribution center will serve customers in the Southeast and areas of the Midwest.

Wal-Mart To Close Macon Facility

400 workers will be losing their jobs in middle Georgia. Wal-Mart says the layoffs are from its return center in Macon, which will be closing in September. The Arkansas-based company says economic conditions were not a factor in the decision. Instead, officials say the Macon facility is too small for serving the southeast region.

Job Seekers Flood LaGrange

Job seekers flooded a state employment office in LaGrange this morning, hopeful of landing one of 600 positions to be filled for a new KIA auto supplier. Sewon America has positions in stamping, production and assembly for its operations--in support of the KIA plant being built in West Point. The Georgia Quick Start office in LaGrange began accepting applications at 8am today. They'll be accepted through Wednesday, until 9pm each day.

Georgia Jobless Rate Highest Since '83

New numbers from Georgia’s labor department Thursday morning show the state’s unemployment rate rose to 8.1 percent in December. That represents the highest rate in almost 26 years. The spike in the jobless rate is up 3.6 percent from a year ago. Georgia’s current 8.1 unemployment mark is above the national rate of 7.2 percent for the 11th straight month.

The biggest loss of jobs came in the metro-Atlanta area, with 82,000 gone in a year’s time. The largest percentage increase in jobs lost was in Dalton, with 5.2 percent evaporated in one year.

State rings-up grant dollars and jobs

Two hundred million dollars in grants has been brought-in by the state’s universities this year. The Georgia Research Alliance says 60 leading researchers have been attracted to the state through the "eminent scholars" program. That program is part of a plan to improve Georgia’s economy by hiring researchers whose innovation spurs new high tech companies. The Alliance says more than 16-hundred jobs have been created as a result of researchers' connections to related faculty, technicians and other workers. Since the establishment of the "eminent scholars" program in 1992, 17 scholars have founded more than 35 new Georgia companies in high-tech, high-wage areas.

State unemployment rate hits 16-year high

Georgia’s unemployment rate hit 7 percent in October, representing the highest mark in 16 years. It’s also 2.5 percent higher than what it was the same time last year. The state Labor Department says over 343,000 Georgians are now looking for work.

Manufacturer to close Savannah plant

A trailer manufacturer has announced the closing of its Savannah plant early next year. Great Dane says its nearly 100-year old plant will close its doors in January. The move will leave 270 workers without jobs. Company officials blame the closure in part on poor sales of its refrigerated trailers.