Georgia jobless rate dips to 7.9 percent, fuels Deal-Carter race

Georgia unemployment rate

- September 2013: 8 percent

- September 2014: 7.9 percent

National unemployment rate

- September 2013: 7.2 percent

- September 2014: 5.9 percent

The Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculate the unemployment rate by sampling nearly 60,000 households nationwide. They are surveyed monthly for four consecutive months, left alone for eight months and then surveyed again monthly for the next four months.

That means that in each month, there are eight “rotation groups,” each of them intended to be representative of the population. The government then weights the groups to come up with an official unemployment rate.

Georgia’s jobless rate dipped slightly to 7.9 percent in September, a humdrum report that turned into red-hot campaign fodder that Gov. Nathan Deal and his main opponent, state Sen. Jason Carter, interpreted in very different fashion.

Deal called the report proof his economic policies are working. Carter noted that, under Deal’s leadership, Georgia recently notched the highest unemployment rate in the nation.

Who can best improve the state’s economy will likely remain a central campaign theme in the 18 days until the election, which some pollsters label too close to call. Thursday’s report, by the state labor department based on federal data, is the last jobs report before the Nov. 4 vote.

Georgia’s unemployment rate stood at 8.1 percent in August. A year ago, it was 8 percent. The state rate remains two percentage points higher than the U.S. rate.

"Georgia's economy is heading in the wrong direction (and) far too many Georgians are still looking for work," said Carter, in a statement. "Every state in the country has recovered from the recession faster than Georgia has under Gov. Deal."

Deal — whose website heralds "Real Jobs. Real Growth. Real Results." — takes credit for the addition of 300,000 private-sector jobs during his term. Yet 15,000 private-sector jobs were lost in September, according to labor statistics.

Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler credited fewer layoffs for the small decline in the unemployment rate. The addition of 8,200 government jobs, mostly in public schools, mitigated the job losses.

Butler, like Deal, preferred to focus on the types of jobs gained during the last 12 months. More than 24,000 temporary, administrative, waste management and accounting jobs have been added to the state’s economy. Leisure and hospitality — bar and restaurant jobs, mainly — bolstered employment rolls by 14,300 jobs. Trucking companies, warehouses and grocery stores added 19,000 jobs.

“We hope that the main thing people see is that we’re growing jobs,” said Butler, who faces Robbin Shipp, a Democrat, on Nov. 4. “We’ve got a very good track record since January 2011 with a steady, year-over-year increase in jobs created.”

What's indisputable is that Georgia's economy is creating jobs, but not enough. The state tallied 4,129,200 total jobs last month. Right before the recession hit, in December 2007, Georgia counted 4,171,900 jobs.

Carter hammered Deal last month when Georgia surpassed all 50 states to claim the highest unemployment rate in the nation. He did it again Thursday while reiterating his campaign pledge to improve Georgia’s economy by focusing on small-business growth and increased spending on education.

“We lost 15,000 private sector jobs (last month). That’s 15,000 fewer jobs for veterans, for the rest of the middle class that’s struggling to get by,” Carter said at the Aviation Wing of the Marietta Museum of History. “We need a new direction in this state.”

Meanwhile, Andrew Hunt, the Libertarian nominee, labeled the small drop in the unemployment rate “within the margin of error” and criticized the state’s high poverty and low education rates.