Thursday, February 17, 2011

ATLANTA (AP) -- Initial unemployment insurance claims rose 18.5 percent from December to January.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler says nearly 90,000 people filed initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits last month. Though that was higher than December, it was 5.9 percent lower than January 2010.

Of the state's 14 major metropolitan areas, only Columbus, Rome, and Savannah reported decreases in initial claims filed from December to January. But 12 of the metropolitan areas showed a decrease from a year ago.

Much of the December to January increase occurred in the manufacturing, construction, administrative and support services, and trade sectors.

The number of Georgians who have been out of work for 27 weeks or longer in January was 262,700. That's a 47.1 percent increase from January 2010.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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