Georgia unemployment claims rise 40 percent

By Kristi E. Swartz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The number of jobless claims rose by nearly 40 percent in December, the Georgia Department of Labor said Friday -- three days before the agency holds its first summit on how to spur job creation here.

The GDOL said 100,896 out-of-work Georgians filed unemployment insurance claims last month. In November, the number was 72,298. the DOL said.

The number of claims dropped 21.6 percent from December 2008, when 128,625 claims were filed.

The average length of time jobless Georgians drew unemployment insurance benefits in December was at a record 15.3 weeks, the labor department said.

The number who received state unemployment benefits dropped 5.7 percent, to 147,774. An additional 184,000 Georgians received federal extended benefits, the labor department said.

State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond in December called a high-profile "jobs summit" to generate ideas and plans to get the state's roughly half-million jobless back to work.

He has invited a range of business leaders, public officials and academics to discuss ways to meet the ongoing crisis in the labor market.

"This is a call to action for citizens to exchange ideas and strategies that will help stimulate the state's job market and shape Georgia's economic destiny," Thurmond said in a statement Friday.

The summit will be at Georgia Tech from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday.