Georgia – Despite Governor Nathan Deal’s repeated campaign promises that creating jobs would be a top priority for his administration, Georgia ranked #49 out of 50 states in job creation for the month of July and is ranked #47 in the nation over the past five year period.

In the past year, Georgia has had nine months of job loss, including a four year streak of unemployment higher than the national average. 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, 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.

“Republicans remain silent about their job record because they don’t have one,” said State Representative Virgil Fludd (D -Tyrone). “Georgia needs effective state leadership to produce a job-friendly environment.”

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 this explanation doesn’t address why 48 other states operating under the same federal leadership created more jobs than Georgia.

“Governor Deal and Commissioner Butler need to stop playing politics and start introducing solutions,” concluded party chairman Mike Berlon. “Georgians are hurting. We need our leaders to take their campaign promises seriously and fix our broken economy.”

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Sources:
Atlanta Business Chronicle “Georgia 50th in job creation in July”; August 22, 2011.

Atlanta Business Chronicle “Georgia 47th for recent job creation”; July 25, 2011.