Tift County unemployment rate rises to 10.4%

By Angie Thompson, Senior Reporter

TIFTON — Tift County’s unemployment rate rose to 10.4 percent in February, higher than the state average of 9.3 but better than the rate in some surrounding counties.

According to the Georgia Department of Labor, Tift County’s rate of unemployment was 9.5 percent in January. The county’s February rate of unemployment was posted at 6.2 percent for February 2008.

More than half of Georgia’s 159 counties have posted double-digit unemployment rates, according to an analysis from the state Labor Department. Georgia’s 9.3 percent jobless rate is a record high and more than a percentage point above the national average of 8.1.

State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said Wednesday that the county data paints a worrisome portrait of how the recession is hitting home for Georgians.

“There’s been a lot of talk about when and if the state will hit double digits,” Thurmond said. “Well, in many places around the state, we’re already there.”

Many of the 87 counties with double-digit jobless rates are in rural areas of the state. The worst was Jenkins County in eastern Georgia, which state labor officials said has a 21.3 percent jobless rate. That county was hit hard by the 2006 closure of a Jockey International sewing plant in Millen. Hancock County was second with 19.1 percent unemployment. Warren County was third at 16.8 percent. The loss of manufacturing jobs has been “devastating to rural Georgia,” Thurmond said.

Tift County is faring better than some and not better than other surrounding counties. For February, Turner posted a 14.5 unemployment rate; Worth a 9.4 percent unemployment

The unemployment rates posted for February were as follows for area counties: Turner, 14.5 percent; Worth, 9.4 percent; Colquitt, 9 percent; Cook, 13.7 percent; Berrien, 13.5 percent; Irwin, 15.2 percent; and Ben Hill, 15.7. Lowndes County posted a 8.4 percent unemployment rate for February.

Thurmond said double-digit unemployment rates are also beginning to creep into metro Atlanta. Among the suburban Atlanta counties posting double-digit unemployment rates are Clayton (10.3 percent), Bartow (11.4 percent) and Rockdale (10.3 percent.

The counties with the lowest unemployment rates are Oconee (6 percent) as well as Lee and Long counties (6.7 percent).

Georgia’s unemployment rate is at record-high 9.3 percent when it is seasonally adjusted. The non-seasonally adjusted rate is 9.4 percent.

Currently, 445,498 Georgians are unemployed and looking for work. That’s a jump of 69.2 percent over the year. Of that number, 159,359, or 35.8 percent, are receiving unemployment insurance benefits.

Thurmond warned that the state’s unemployment insurance fund could run out of state money before the end of the year unless the economy improves. The fund is being helped along by federal stimulus funds.

To contact senior reporter Angie Thompson, call 382-4321.

Information contained in an Associated Press article contributed to this story.

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