Georgia unemployment claims up 40 percent

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Posted 8:00AM on Thursday, February 14, 2002

ATLANTA - Unemployment claims in Georgia rose 40 percent from January 2001 to last month, the state Department of Labor said Thursday. The U.S. Labor Department said Wednesday that employers in Georgia laid off 8,759 workers in major layoffs in the last quarter of 2001, the single largest quarterly job loss for the state since officials began tracking major layoffs in 1995. Michael Wald, regional economist in the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said 18,976 Georgians lost jobs last year in major layoffs, in which companies idled more than 50 workers for more than 30 days. It is not a reflection of all jobs lost. Recipients of unemployment insurance benefits numbered 129,815 in January, compared with 92,359 a year earlier. Initial claims for benefits rose to 92,067 from 83,100 in January 2001, the Labor Department said. The average length of time recipients drew benefits increased 26 percent, from 8.5 weeks to 10.7 weeks in January 2002. The department said 89,013 claimants have exhausted their unemployment insurance benefits in the past 13 months without finding a job. ``I'm not sure people really grasp the full extent of this recession and the impact it's having on Georgia,'' state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said. ``The increase in unemployment insurance claims reinforces the need for a 13-week extension of federal unemployment insurance benefits and other assistance for laid-off workers,'' Thurmond said. ``I applaud the Senate for approving an extension of benefits and call on the House to act quickly to provide help for these Georgians who lost their jobs through no fault of their own until they can go back to work,'' he said. The job changes in the state's metropolitan areas in first-time unemployment insurance claims over the past 12 months were: Albany, up 60, or 4.8 percent, from 1,244 to 1,304. Athens, up 120, or 11.4 percent, from 1,054 to 1,174. Atlanta, up 10,264, or 44.5 percent, from 23,056 to 33,320. Augusta, up 230, or 9.2 percent, from 2,501 to 2,731. Columbus, down 315, or 11 percent, from 2,852 to 2,537. Macon, up 238, or 12.5 percent, from 1,910 to 2,148. Savannah, down 377, or 20.1 percent, from 1,879 to 1,502.