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NEWSLETTER SIGN UPBarrow County News
Unemployment is a major concern as 2009 winds to a close to make way for what many hope is a better and economically brighter 2010.
Barrow County’s unemployment rate remains above 10 percent, and surrounding counties are in pretty much the same boat.Across the state, there are also 93 other counties posting double-digit jobless rates.
Twenty-seven counties have unemployment rates at 9 percent or higher and 23 counties are posting jobless figures between 8 and 9 percent.
"Georgia’s job market is struggling to regain its footing," said State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, who describes Georgia’s job market as being "mired in a prolonged and painful economic downturn."
Barrow Countians are well aware of the pain.
On Jan. 18, the Georgia Department of Labor will host a Georgia Jobs Summit at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center.
"This bipartisan gathering will bring together Georgia’s best minds to develop a comprehensive, state-level strategy that will help spur economic growth and job creation," said Thurmond.
For local Winder CPA Rodney Broach, of O’Neal, Broach and Still, the effects of the recession — especially in terms of unemployment — have been seen.
According to Broach, most of the businesses he has worked with and know of have seen a decrease in profits, and when that occurs, the businesses deal with it in a couple of different ways, through cost-cutting, layoffs or postponing the purchasing of new equipment.
Many businesses have had to look for new ways to stay in operations, and as the recession worsened, certain industries — especially those who are involved in building and construction — have seen high amounts of layoffs due to little or no work in the community.
A problem Broach foresees in the future involves all the people who have lost their jobs as a result of the recession.
Many of them, he said, are about at the point of expiration when it comes to their unemployment benefits, which means that they will no longer have that income to pay bills.
That will put those people in "more difficult circumstances," he said.
Broach said there is a lot of speculation that the amount of money businesses have to pay into unemployment insurance will go up due to the recession-related depletion of funds.
During good times, the funds continue to build, so that when bad times arrive there is enough money to go around. However, with the high unemployment rates and continued concerns of layoffs, monies for unemployment are running low.
The state of Georgia did use some stimulus money to fund extended unemployment benefits, Broach said.
However, the stimulus package will not make up for all the money that has been used.
Year-to-date, Georgia has paid out $1.6 billion in unemployment insurance benefits, compared to $950 million during 2008. More than 1 million jobless Georgians have filed initial claims for unemployment benefits since the recession began in December 2007, and the balance of the state unemployment insurance trust fund has dwindled to $25 million.
To make it up, employers are being advised by Thurmond to expect a modest increase in their 2010 premiums.
