Democratic Party of Georgia

Help Move Georgia Forward

DPG Issues Statements on State’s Recent Jobless Report and Georgia Republicans’ Economic Failures

Release:  Friday, September 19, 2014                                                                                            

 

Democratic Party of Georgia Issues Statements on State’s Recent Jobless Report and Georgia Republicans’ Economic Failures

 

Atlanta, GA – Today, Democratic Party of Georgia Chair DuBose Porter and Democratic candidate for Commissioner of Labor Robbin Shipp issued the following statements in response to news that Georgia now has the highest unemployment in the country—dead last behind all other states and the District of Columbia.

 

At a press conference yesterday, Gov. Nathan Deal floated a bizarre conspiracy theory that outside influences were to blame for his economic failures.

 

Said Deal: “It’s ironic that in a year when Republican governors are leading some of the states making the most progress, that they almost, without exception, are classified with having a bump in unemployment rates. And states under a Democratic governor’s control are all showing that their unemployment rate has dropped. And I don’t know how you account for that. Maybe there is some influence here that we don’t know about.”

 

“Nathan Deal has cut job training, cut education funding, and refused to make serious investments in our state’s infrastructure—particularly transportation—and this is the result,” said Chairman Porter in a statement. “You know it’s bad when Mississippi is saying ‘Thank goodness for Georgia.’”

 

“Governance is about accountability and priorities,” continued Chairman Porter. “Anytime Nathan Deal is held accountable for his failures, he shirks responsibility and blames someone else. His priorities have nothing to do with working Georgians or those seeking jobs—but he definitely makes the time to scheme new ways to shift responsibility.”

 

“Jason Carter has his priorities straight—putting Georgians and their families first,” concluded Chairman Porter. “I look forward to the day that we finally have a governor who believes in a Georgia that works for everyone.”

 

Yesterday, Democratic candidate for Commissioner of Labor Robbin Shipp said of the current administration: “Our current Labor Commissioner has squandered his opportunity to help the citizens of Georgia. Instead of working with federally funded programs aimed at helping small businesses or helping out veterans get back to work when they return from battle, he has failed to implement the changes necessary to get Georgia’s economy back on track…The choice is clear: Butler and Deal must go.”

 

###

 

BACKGROUND

 

Bureau of Labor of Statistics – Unemployment Rates for States

 

AJC 9/18/14 – In a surprise, Georgia unemployment rate rises again

 

AJC 9/18/14 – Three candidates, three views on jobless rate hike

 

Nathan Deal’s Pathetic Pinnacle: 8.1% Unemployment Rate

Release:  Thursday, September 18, 2014   

 

Nathan Deal’s Pathetic Pinnacle: 8.1% Unemployment Rate

 

Atlanta, GA – Today, the Georgia Department of Labor announced more bad news for job-seekers—Georgia’s unemployment rate has spiked to 8.1 percent. Last month, Georgia was ranked with the nation’s 2nd-worst jobless rate at 7.8 percent.

 

From the AJC:  The Georgia Department of Labor released figures just before midnight Thursday showing the unemployment rate increased from 7.7 percent in July to 8.1 percent in August. Analysts and Gov. Nathan Deal expected the rate to drop that month as more workers temporarily laid off for the summer were rehired.

The uptick comes at an inopportune time for Deal, who has built his campaign for re-election against Democrat Jason Carter on an optimistic message that Georgia’s economy is improving thanks to his pro-business philosophy.

 

Last month, Gov. Nathan Deal blamed Georgia’s shockingly high unemployment rate on “a surge of job seekers”, even though the DOL found that the labor force decreased by 4,824.

 

Deal isn’t the only Georgia Republican in denial about the state’s economic crisis. Last month, Republican Senate candidate David Perdue told attendees at a meet and greet “I agree with whoever said…don’t worry about that unemployment number.” (Huffington Post 8/26/14)

 

Georgia’s top Republicans continue to prove their reckless ambivalence toward the financial well-being of their constituents—while the state suffers from stagnant job creation and Georgians fortunate enough to have jobs earn less per hour and per week than workers in most of the rest of the country.

 

###

 

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 8th 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.

Georgia Sheds Jobs; State Unemployment Rises Again

Georgia – Despite Governor Nathan Deal’s campaign promises that creating jobs would be his top priority, latest figures show Georgia’s unemployment rate has risen to 10.3%, the highest since Deal’s inauguration in January.

Georgia lost over 15,000 jobs last month alone. This job loss stands in direct contrast to the pledges of then-candidate Deal, who pledged to “kick-start the economy” while making job creation the theme of his campaign bus tour.

In October of 2010, Deal spokesman Brian Robinson stated that the future governor would “serve as Georgia’s top ambassador and salesman to bring new jobs here.” Yet, more than 470,000 Georgia citizens remain out of work, comparable to the combined populations of Athens, Augusta, Macon and Warner Robins.

Instead of addressing this issue, the Deal administration continues to blame Democrats at the national level. When asked if federal politics were inhibiting job creation in Georgia, Labor Commissioner Mark Butler stated that a “lack of leadership in Washington is a contributing factor to the overall lack of confidence in the (Georgia) economy.” Yet Butler’s explanation doesn’t address why Georgia has had higher unemployment than the rest of the nation for over four years running.

“These losses have all occurred under a Republican Administration that promised job creation. Georgians deserve better,” said Mike Berlon, Chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia.

“Instead of avoiding responsibility for the lack of job creation and criticizing any plans that aren’t their own to jump start the economy, we challenge republicans to put together a plan for job creation that makes sense and puts Georgians back to work.”

# # #