Jobless rates up

ATLANTA - The Georgia Department of Labor announced Friday that the unemployment rate in the Georgia Mountains area jumped four-tenths percent in January to 3.8 percent, up from 3.4 percent in December.

The area's jobless rate was 2.7 percent in January of 2001.

The area's rate rose because some manufacturing workers in textiles and
transportation equipment were temporarily laid off.

Meanwhile, the state's unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent in January, up from 4.3 percent in December. The state's jobless rate was 3.5 percent in January of 2001. January of 2002 figures show that 93,700 jobs were lost in
Georgia in the past 12 months.

"The continuing loss of jobs and rise in unemployment is bad news for Georgians trying to reenter the workforce," said State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond. "It is especially dispiriting to those who have exhausted their benefits.

"In the past 12 months, the 26-week safety net for 82,000 of these workers who were put out of work through no fault of their own has run
out. Had it not been for the tragic events of September 11, many of these people would have never lost their jobs or would have gone back to work by now.

"For the sake of these unfortunate Georgians and their families, unemployment benefits need to be extended another 13 weeks to give
employers the additional time needed to recover and begin hiring again. I call on the Congress to expeditiously focus on this issue and pass a benefits extension in time to help these workers stay afloat until the economic tide begins to flow."

Georgia had 3,840,400 jobs in January, down by 93,700, or 2.4 percent, from 3,934,100 in January of 2001. A total of 56,900 jobs were lost in trade and services, 31,100 in manufacturing, and 5,400 in construction.

(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)