Nathan Deal v. the Rest of the Nation: A Major Jobs Disparity

Last week, the United States Department of Labor announced the creation of 288,000 new private sector jobs nationally in the month of June alone. The national unemployment rate dropped to 6.1%, the lowest since September 2008. These numbers mark 52 months of consecutive job growth and five months where at least 200,000 jobs were created.

Yet, as the national unemployment rate drops and more jobs are created, Georgia continues to lag behind the rest of the country under Nathan Deal.

Here are the facts:

Georgia has the 8^th highest unemployment rate in the nation.  (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Nearly four in ten working families with children are “low-income.” (GBPI 6-19-14)

Over the last 15 years, Georgia is only one of two states where real per capita GDP has declined. (AJC 6-20-14)

Georgia’s economic outlook is exceptionally grim outside the metro-Atlanta area. In a recent Bloomberg ranking of the fastest shrinking U.S. cities, Georgia was the only state in the nation to have more than one city in the top ten list—we had THREE. (Bloomberg)

45% of Georgia’s children under the age of 13 in working families are in low-income working families. (GBPI 6-19-14)

Adjusted for inflation the average Georgia family makes over $6000 less than the average family did 10 years ago. (Politifact 1-23-14)

Nathan Deal will use a couple of rankings and some feel-good ads to justify another four years in office. But Georgia is lagging behind the rest of the nation and these numbers do not lie.

Georgia is headed in the wrong direction. But we don’t have to settle for Nathan Deal’s status quo.

With your help, and with your vote, we can fix this.