May 24, 2013
February 28, 2008
AUGUSTA, Ga.---The Georgia Department of Labor reports the state's unemployment rate has risen one full percentage point in the past two months.
It's now at 5.2 percent.
The last time a similar one-point increase happened in Georgia from November to January was in 1992.
State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said, "I continue to be concerned by weakness in Georgia's labor market. Clearly, the credit crisis and the slumping housing sector are negatively impacting the job market."
Preliminary data from December to January shows Georgia lost 53,300 payroll jobs.
Augusta was down 2,500, or 1.1 percent of the local labor force, which is now 216,300. The Athens area had the steepest percentage decline.
Commissioner Thurmond added, ""We're monitoring the situation closely and are prepared to respond."
