Georgia unemployment hits record high

The jobless rate in Georgia hit a record high in January, jumping to 8.6 percent, the state’s Labor Department announced Thursday.

The rate the previous month was 8.1 percent, but the layoffs have continued across broad segments of the economy.

“We are officially sailing in uncharted economic waters,” said Michael Thurmond, state labor commissioner.

The jobless rate has climbed 65 percent from its level a year ago.

The previous record was 8.3 percent in 1983, as the economy was emerging from what had been at the time, the longest recession since the Great Depression.

The current recession began at the end of 2007 and is widely projected to continue at least until late this year. Pessimists say it will linger into next year or even beyond.

Unemployment typically crests near the end of a downturn or after the expansion has begun.

Nearly 413,000 Georgians were looking for work, an increase of 62.9 percent over the year, according to the Labor Department. Fewer than half of those people are receiving unemployment insurance benefits.

The current rate is the highest since the U.S. Labor Department standardized jobless numbers among the states in 1976.