Georgia Suffers Through Record Unemployment; Stimulus Funds No Golden Parachute ATLANTA, GA (WABE) - Up a half-percent since May, June saw 10.1% of Georgians looking for work. That's a record, with more than 483,000 unemployed here.

Many are looking to the billions coming to the state in federal stimulus dollars for help. But state labor commissioner Michael Thurmond says that money is no golden parachute:

"We will not see economic growth until we can spur job creation and investments in the private sector. We have to work along with the stimulus, to use it as leverage to stimulate growth in our state and in our nation."

Thurmond doesn't expect a far-reaching recovery until late 2010.

For the one-in-ten who is unemployed, finding a new job is becoming increasingly difficult. The Department of Labor reports Georgia has shed more than 200,000 jobs in the past year. Of those lost, more than half were in the Atlanta area.

Jim Burress, WABE News.
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