First-time claims for state unemployment insurance in July increased nearly 60 percent from the previous year, with 93,988 laid-off workers seeking insurance, announced the Georgia Department of Labor.
The last time the over-the-year increase in first-time claims was less than 58.9 percent was November 2008, when an increase of 54.7 percent was recorded, according to a DOL press release.
First-time claims increased 5.9 percent, or by 5,232 workers from June to July of this year. In Metro Atlanta, first-claim claims rose from 39,492 in June 2009 to to 41,021 in July, an increase of 3.9 percent, according to DOL data.
DOL reports 163,839 laid-off workers received unemployment insurance benefits in July, an increase of 83 percent from the previous year when 89,603 workers received benefits. And approximately 140,000 unemployed workers are receiving federally-funded extended benefits, bringing the total number of unemployment insurance claimants to 303,839.
State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said the data indicates that “fewer Georgians are being laid off, but a rising number of laid-off workers are remaining unemployed for longer periods of time.”
The average length of time jobless Georgians received unemployment insurance benefits also increased from 11.5 weeks to 13.4 weeks from July of 2008 to July 2009, according to the report.
Most of the initial claims were filed by laid-off workers in manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, construction, and administrative and support services, DOL reported. Thurmond said the state should focus efforts on stimulating the private sector, namely small businesses, for job creation.
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