Georgia Unemployment Rate Second-Worst in U.S.

Is Georgia’s ranking at the bottom of the country with the second worst unemployment rate in the nation because more job-seekers have moved to the Peach State, or because the state’s schools aren’t turning out skilled workers?

It depends on which gubernatorial candidate you ask.

The jobless rate in Georgia was 7.8 percent in July, according to a report released Monday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only Mississippi, with a jobless rate of 8 percent, came in below the Peach State, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Georgia’s unemployment rate increased .04 percent from June to July, the federal agency says.

The national jobless rate was little changed from June at 6.2 percent, but was 1.1 percentage points lower than in July 2013, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The campaigns for Georgia governor pointed fingers at each other to assess blame and explain the reasons behind the state’s unemployment ranking.

“Georgia has lost 12,000 jobs over the last two months. We’re heading in the wrong direction and we have to get it fixed,” Democratic challenger Jason Carter told WSB TV.

A spokesman for Republican Gov. Nathan Deal told the TV station that Georgia has added 83,000 new private sector jobs in 2014.

“When Gov. Deal came into office the unemployment rate was well over 10 percent. Now it’s below 8 percent. What you’re seeing right now is a summer blip that we see in Georgia every single year,” said spokesman Brian Robinson.

Deal’s campaign attributes the unemployment increase to school bus drivers and cafeteria workers who are not paid year-round, along with an influx of job-seekers in the labor pool.

Carter’s campaign disagreed, saying the jobless spike is a result of disinvestment in Georgia’s education system. A robust economy requires an education system that is generating skilled workers, he said.