The Daily Citizen, Dalton, GA

Business

Discussion

Welcome to our online comments feature. To join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address. Once you do, your comments will post automatically. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.
comments powered by Disqus
March 3, 2010

Metro area still losing jobs

From staff reports Dalton Daily Citizen

DALTON — Metro Dalton lost 2,900 jobs from January 2009 to January 2010, according to figures released Wednesday by the state labor department. The metro area includes Whitfield and Murray counties.

That was the largest percentage drop — 4.3 percent — among the state’s 14 metro areas. Metro Dalton went from 68,000 jobs in January 2009 to 65,100 in January 2010.

Only the Savannah area lost more jobs than Metro Dalton during the period, shedding 3,600, from 152,400 to 148,800. Metro Warner Robins had the least amount of jobs lost over the year: 0.

Statewide, the unemployment rate rose to 10.4 percent in January, topping the previous record high of 10.3 percent in December 2009. The January rate was up 2 percent from 8.4 percent at the same time last year.

“Georgia’s unemployment crisis is deepening,” state labor commissioner Michael Thurmond said in a press release. “I’m concerned that thousands of pending state government layoffs will further cripple Georgia’s struggling private job market. Our elected leadership must come together to develop a bipartisan plan that will balance the state budget and jumpstart private sector hiring.”

The national adjusted unemployment rate is 9.7 percent. For 28 consecutive months, Georgia’s unemployment rate has exceeded the national rate. And, since the recession began in December 2007, Georgia’s work force has shrunk by 130,043 (2.7 percent), from 4.83 million to 4.7 million.

The number of payroll jobs in January decreased by 151,600, or 3.9 percent, from January of 2009. The losses came in manufacturing and construction, trade, transportation and utilities, and professional and business services. On a positive note, the labor department said, educational and health services added 6,900 jobs over the year, and leisure and hospitality added 800.

Text Only
Business