Fresh Loaf

Number of Georgia jobs created or retained by the national stimulus package: 23,879

Estimated number of jobs created or retained nationally by stimulus money: 1 million

Current Georgia unemployment rate: 10.2 percent

Georgia unemployment rate at the end of 2008: 7.5 percent

Current national unemployment rate: 9.8 percent

Amount of money allocated to 18 Georgia agencies by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: $3.2 billion

Amount of that allocated money spent by those agencies so far: $702 million

Amount of money spent per job created or retained across the state: $29,380

Georgia’s median income for an individual: $40,760

Sources: AJC.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau

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Downtown Atlanta job fair

Good morning! The most recent unemployment numbers are in and they’re terrible.

Georgia’s unemployment rate rose to a record high of 9.7 percent in May, the Georgia Department of Labor says, up from 9.2 percent the previous month. May was the 19th consecutive month the state’s unemployment rate hovered above the national average.

“Georgia’s record unemployment rate of 9.7 percent is a stark reminder that the road to economic recovery will be long and difficult,” state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said in a press release.

According to the department, nearly 463,883 unemployed Georgians were looking for work in May, an increase of 62 percent from the same time last year. Of that number, 157,544 are receiving state unemployment insurance benefits. Approximately another 90,000 are receiving federal extended benefits.

The state saw a loss of 217,000 jobs in May. Of that number, 136,800 jobs were in Metro Atlanta. Dalton continues to be battered by the economy, posting the highest percentage loss in jobs. Atlanta Magazine’s Thomas Lake recently wrote an excellent piece about the North Georgia carpet town’s woes that’s worth a read.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Plant Vogtle

It’s quite common for journalists to “bury the lede” — that is, to downplay the real news and stick it in the far recesses of an article. Sometimes it’s on purpose, but usually it’s avoided.

To “bury the lede” on a press release? Kind of bizarre. But it happened today when Gov. Sonny Perdue announced he’d signed a bill that would mean more money for the state’s unemployed — and even up to 13 extra weeks of benefits to help them through hard times. It all comes from federal funds, so it wouldn’t mean a tax increase on Georgia businesses. Sounds good, right?

Perdue followed up that little bit of sunshine with a long list of legislation he also inked today with his Juan Hancock. Among them: Senate Bill 31. That’s the WTF legislation that allows Georgia Power to start charging customers for some costs of two proposed reactors at Plant Vogtle years before the white elephants are completed. It was widely maligned and derided by everyone from conservative bloggers to the AARP. Apparently the only people in favor of the plan were the free-market drumbeaters at the Georgia Public Policy Foundation and lawmakers coached in talking points by 70 lobbyists hired to peddle the bill.

Its signing into law wasn’t very surprising, really. (Perdue’s chief of staff is a former Georgia Power “vice president of governmental and regulatory affairs,” or, in English, “lobbyist”). But it’s just kind of funny that one of the hot-button bills of the session — one that would “create jobs” and “be good for Georgia” — didn’t merit its own press release. And the fact that a recent lawsuit filed by Atlanta attorney John Woodham and the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation about the bill didn’t even make Perdue wince or explain the decision.

After the jump, the full announcement about the state unemployment legislation Perdue signed. But first, the full list of all the other bills Perdue signed today. Play along with us as we sort through the pile and see what they were! At the top of the screen, select whether it’s “HB” for “House Bill” or “SB” for “Senate Bill” and then enter the number in the field. It’s fun! Kind of.

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Those nifty contrarians at Slate, God bless ‘em, have gone through the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and made a fun and depressing animation of a heady few months of job gains followed by a blood-red pattern of job loss. The animation, which covers January 2007 to February 2009, provides some much-needed context to the headlines and numbers we’ve seen thrown about.

It’s interesting to watch how metropolitan regions went from blue to red. Not surprising, sure, as this is where the bulk of people live. But notice the areas where jobs grew. I heard an interesting rumor while reporting for the Green Guide that laid-off workers in Florida’s manufacturing industry were migrating north into south Georgia to look for jobs. You don’t see much of that in this animation, or you don’t see if they landed work, but it’d be interesting to also plug migration data into this map.

And look at that little blue dot along the Mid-Atlantic. That’s Washington, D.C., people! Or at least I think it is! Regardless, socialism! Government job programs! Big Government blah blah blah! (Click the screenshot to head to Slate’s site and watch the animation.)

(Screenshot from Slate)

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Number of counties in Georgia: 159

Number of Georgia counties with an unemployment rate in the double digits, as of March 25: 87

Percentage of working-age Americans who are jobless: 8.1

Percentage of working-age Georgians who are jobless: 9.3

Percentage of working-age Georgians who were jobless this time last year: 5.4

Number of consecutive months Georgia’s unemployment rate has been higher than the national average: 16

Jenkins County’s jobless rate (in percentage), the state’s highest: 21.3

Oconee County’s jobless rate, the state’s lowest: 6

Number of Georgians unemployed and looking for work: 445,500

Sources: Georgia Department of Labor, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Capitol Impact

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Mauricia: I’m drinking more to forget what’s going on. I’ve been unemployed for almost two years. But when it gets better, we’ll all be in a better place. Until then, I’ll continue to live life in a loving, fun way so that I don’t miss a day of appreciation and gratitude for what I have. Everything happens for a reason. I understand I’m on a path, and I’m not going to be bummed out about whether I have money in my pocket. And by drinking more, I eat less, so I’ve lost weight.

Clay: I work in a bar. The only way to make money right now is to network with other bartenders. So I’m constantly going out and drinking at other places to encourage them to come into my bar, so I make money off of them. It’s all one big family. I’m trying to build a clientele with service-industry people, so I’m always out drinking. It’s the not greatest thing. I also attempt to have a little bit more fun to encourage people to come by so they see my personality as a bartender. You’re constantly selling yourself.

Julie: It hasn’t affected me at all, because I’m a stripper. I make too much money for it to affect me. It’s just a working girl’s way of making it through without a man. People spend more during a depression on stripping and drinking, because they want to feel good. The naked body is an expression of life. You’re supposed to celebrate it. But I drink only on a select occasion because my body is what I live off of. I love to party, but I work hard on my body and keep it in pristine shape.

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NOT A SHOCKER: Last week

Late last fall, Sam Warren lost a client who’d fallen on hard times. That client was the state of Georgia.

The 52-year-old consultant and Powder Springs resident, who made his living writing operational manuals for corporations and government agencies, learned the state was instituting a “hard freeze” on outside contracts. Warren, who says never in his life has he left one job without another firmly in place, started making calls to drum up more business. Then he made some more calls.

Now, friends who told Warren in November that they’d try to help him secure work are looking for work themselves.

“It’s dry,” he says. “Dry and dead.”

Last week, Warren was among the estimated 19,000 people who packed into the Georgia World Congress Center to compete for what’s beginning to seem like an impossible find: a job.

Read the rest of this feature here.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond

In this week’s feature, “The big hurt,” I write about Georgia’s rising unemployment rate and how it’s impacting metro Atlantans. To better understand the current economic landscape, I visited the state Department of Labor’s recent job fair at the Georgia World Congress Center. The event, which organizers estimate attracted more than 19,000 job seekers, was considered the largest in the state’s history. To view Joeff Davis’ photographs of the event, go here.

While reporting on the convention center floor, I spotted Commissioner Michael Thurmond monitoring the event from a hospitality suite. Thurmond, who’s brutally honest but optimistic about the situation, agreed to chat. After the jump, a transcript of my interview with the commissioner. In it, he talks about how the state can prepare for a recovered economy, the impact of globalization, and the job-loss story that hit him the hardest.

(File photo by Joeff Davis)

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1. Atlanta job fair at Georgia World Congress Center (If this post had attracted thousands of visits a few years back, I’d have laughed to myself and said, “What next? Creative Loafing declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy?” Hahahahaha.)

2. Soapbox: Jekyll Island Authority ‘at it again’ (At 239 comments and counting, the Jekyll post is encroaching on Black Mafia Family territory. A JIA v. BMF beef? Scary.)

3. AJC layoffs: this week or next (I’m not going to make a snide remark about the abovementioned job fair. This economy is no place for snide remarks.)

4. Georgia mayor’s Facebook page confuses nation (How easy it is to offend with a can of Schlitz and a pack of Camels!)

5. Sneak peek: Creative Loafing’s website makeover (The euphoria of making our own top-five list is only slightly diminished by the fact that most commenters trashed our makeover. Meanies.)

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Last week, metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate rose to 8.7 percent, the highest it’s been since 1983. And while there are glimmers of hope here and there, the bad news continues to outweigh the good.

Tomorrow evening, the state Department of Labor and WSBTV will sponsor a career expo and job fair at the Georgia World Congress Center. Department officials say 100 employers will be on hand, some of whom are hiring. The fair will be held from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

In addition to the companies, more than 100 service providers will be on hand to help attendees learn how to pick a career, conduct job interviews, manage finances after a job loss, and other skills. A resume coach and 100 computers for job searches and resume updates will also be available. Representatives from two-year and four-year private educational institutions and technical colleges will attend to offer information about their programs.

Department officials suggest job seekers bring updated resumes and wear professional attire for job interviews. To reach the Georgia World Congress Center by public transit, check out the A-TRAIN trip planner. The Atlanta Community Food Bank will be accepting canned food donations at the door, as well.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Evolution theory is proven!!!

Finally, an American growth industry!

Americans are seeing the (absence of) light?

Nonviolence is the only answer…

Pillow fight crack down#$!

An answer to the fear of losing your job (thank God)…

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Thousands of people lined up for an Atlanta Federal Center Career Fair at 100 Alabama Street in downtown Atlanta this morning to get information about federal jobs being offered by over two dozen federal agencies. According to police, people started forming lines at 6 a.m. even though the job fair did not start until 10 a.m.

An unemployed man who asked not to be identified said he had been waiting for more than three hours to go inside. When asked what type of job he was looking for, he replied, “Right now, whatever is available.”

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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What do people mean when they say the nation is experiencing its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression?

Georgia’s unemployment rate just hit 8.1 percent, a 26-year high.

26-years ago, the country had barely begun to climb out of what was, at that point, the deepest recession since the Great Depression.

The job market in Georgia today is already as weak as it was during the early 1980s recession. But the current recession hasn’t bottomed-out yet. Unemployment is projected to rise until 2010.

If its a worse recession than we had from 1981-83, it’s the worst since the Great Depression.

Brother, can you spare $1.36*?

(*A 1931 dime, adjusted to its 2007 value via the Consumer Price Index)

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On my way in to work today, I saw Jeff Roof at the intersection of Freedom Pkwy NE and Ralph McGill Blvd NE. Jeff is an out-of-work medical assistant desperately in need of a job.

“I have been out of work for almost two months. Everywhere I look for a job they want you to apply online and everyday I apply online but I never hear back from anybody so I figured what would it hurt to go and stand in the intersection.”

“I put this off for a week because of the rain and fog. I finally said this looked like my best day so I thought I would come out and see what happens. I realize its tough for everybody but I need a job before I am out on the street.”

“I put on [an] elf hat ’cause I figured it would draw attention — I feel like an idiot but I figured why not?”

“I even wrote Ellen (DeGeneres) and asked her for help. I never heard back from her but mama always said it never hurt to ask, what do I have to lose?”

“One of the reasons I got out of real estate last year is because I didn’t have any health insurance so I figured if I got into the medical field at least I wouldn’t have to worry about it but now I don’t have any health insurance.”

“The main thing I am hoping for is someone will offer me an opportunity, that’s all I am looking for.”

“I have been out here for about an hour and nobody has offered me a job but a number of people have rolled down their windows and said ‘good luck Jeff.’ If the weather is good I will be out here again tomorrow.”

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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This time last year, Georgia’s unemployment rate was 4.5 percent, just below the national unemployment rate of 4.7 percent.

The latest stats put Georgia’s unemployment rate at 7 percent, well-ahead of the national unemployment rate of 6.5 percent.

For as long as I can remember, Georgia has been a job-magnet. This year, it’s a job-repellent. So far in 2008, Georgia has lost more jobs than every state except Michigan.

Dr. Rajeev Dhawan of Georgia State University’s Economic Forecast Center expects unemployment in Georgia to keep rising until 2010.

Something to keep in mind: official state and national unemployment stats only tally as unemployed people who are actively seeking full-time work.

Among the unemployed who are not counted in official stats: people who have given up looking for full-time work, freelance and self-employed people who can’t find any paying work, and skilled professional who take low-skill, low-wage jobs because they cannot find work in their chosen field.

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Brooke and Solomon are too young to remember a recession as bad as this one’s likely to get. But, over the last year, the Cobb County couple has gotten an up-close preview.

“We always talk about how we never thought we’d be in this predicament,” says Brooke, who lives with her husband and two babies in a $945-a-month apartment in Marietta.

Last year, the couple moved from Texas. For a time, they rented out the house they owned back in Beaumont. But the tenants moved out and the house sat empty. With gas prices rising, the second baby on the way and rent to pay in Atlanta, Solomon’s job on a Gulf of Mexico oil rig didn’t provide enough to also carry the mortgage. They fell behind.

Then, in January, just after the birth of their second son, Solomon’s rig shut down, and he had to go to work for another oil-services company. His pay dropped from $18 to $13 an hour. The bank foreclosed on the house in Texas. Bills began to pile up.

Read the rest of this article here.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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WABE’s Odette Yousef reports the Atlanta Community Food Bank’s inventory is at an all-time low.

Food bank CEO Bill Bolling blames the flagging economy. Donations have dipped while demand has surged, he says.

Georgia’s unemployment rate hit a 15-year high of 6.2% in July.

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MARS DROUGHT DOWNGRADED: Scientists find and sample water from the Martian surface, and will spend the next several weeks studying whether it could support life.

TED STEVENS: Not giving up without a slow, creaky fight.

COLBERT: Offers a “rare apology” to Canton, Ga., for calling the town “crappy,” adding that he meant to call Canton, Kan., crappy: “How many Canton, Kan. residents does it take to screw in a lightbulb? None. They don’t use lights because they don’t want to see where they live.”

RUNOFF: Congressional Quarterly summarizes the uphill battle ahead of whoever wins Tuesday’s Democratic primary runoff in the U.S. Senate race to unseat Saxby Chambliss.

316: Won’t toll for thee.

HEADLINE NUDES: Lavonia buys the town’s only strip club with $1 million of taxpayer money, closes it and burns down its billboards.

LINGERIE: Included, along with bras, garter belts and hosiery, among the items exempt from sales taxes in this weekend’s statewide tax holiday. WSB-TV makes the distinction, however, that only sexy lingerie is exempt:

UNEMPLOYMENT: U.S. rate hits a four-year high in July as employers cut 51,000 jobs. But who’s going to operate the giant computer-chip-gear machine that makes red lightning bolts?

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