Number of Lay-offs Down in September in GA Mountains Region

Even though lawmakers in Washington have reached a deal to re-open the federal government, the two week old shutdown has had a trickle down effect at the State level. 

On Wednesday, the Georgia Department of Labor announced it will not be able to provide the state or local unemployment numbers for the month of September today as it usually does. 

Department of Labor Communications Director Sam Hall said the reason is because the Department of Labor is tied to a federal department.

 “All State Departments of Labor work in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics in the publication of unemployment rates and other non-farm employment data,” Hall said. “And becuase of the federal government shutdown all state governments are unable to publish their September data.”

Hall said, however, the Department of Labor is still able to release the number of new lay-offs for last month. 

In an exclusive interview with WLHR News Wednesday Hall announced the number of lay-offs for the Georgia Mountains Region, which includes Franklin, Hart, and Stephens counties. Hall said the number of lay-offs in our area actually went down last month. 

“The number of new lay-offs in the Georgia Mountain Region declined pretty sharply in September,” Hall said. “In fact, it dropped down to 1,538 claims filed in September. That’s a 19.4% drop from August. Most of the decline in new lay-offs came in manufacturing, construction, trade, transportation, and warehouse.” 

Hall said while no actual unemployment figures are available right now, the fact that the number of layoffs was lower in September likely means the unemployment numbers will also be lower, once those figures are released.