Secretary Thurmond asks Georgians to stand together
Labor Sec. calls the economic downturn cyclical, says things will get better
By FRANK BRADLEY Sentinel writer

"If you are going to lose your job, Georgia is the place to lose it," Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond told an audience of more than a hundred local community leaders and chamber members on Tuesday.

The occasion was an Eggs & Issues Breakfast sponsored by the Blairsville-Union County Chamber of Commerce held at North Georgia Technical College.

Thurmond told the gathering that Georgia is ranked number one in the nation as the state for getting people back to work. While the U. S. average duration of being out of work is 15.1 weeks, in Georgia the average person gets back to work in 11.1 weeks. Not only is Georgia's experiences of unemployment duration four weeks fewer than that of the national average, but the lower duration of being out of work results in a tremendous savings to the Georgia's UI trust fund. Last year, those savings equaled to more than $196 million. This translates in to fewer tax dollars paid out by local businesses. It also means that Georgia has the 8th most solvent trust fund account in the nation and is the 2nd most solvent trust fund in the southeast.

Thurmond pointed out during his term as Secretary of Labor, Georgia has managed to increased unemployment benefits from $230 a week to $330 a week.

"There is dignity in work," Thurmond said, adding that when he was given the responsibility of getting Georgia's 160,000 folks on welfare off the rolls and into workfare, he said there are today fewer than 20,000 persons on the welfare rolls.

Thurmond said he was optimistic about today's economy, calling the current situation cyclical. "This shall pass," he said. "And Georgia will emerge as a more vibrant economy. He said he recognizes that north Georgia has been hit particularly harder that of the state as a whole. He attributed to the slow-down in housing and construction. He said Georgia, which currently has a jobless rate of 5.3 percent is in excess of the national average and said it is one of the few times this has happened.

Thurmond asked that unemployed workers be encouraged to take advantage of the economic slowdown and take the opportunity to get further education, training and to increase their job skills. He said the best protection against job loss is for workers to continually up grade their skills and get more education and training.

Thurmond said the argument in education circles used to be whether or not to emphasis liberal arts or technical training. He said it's not an either or situation, but both. "White collar, blue collar or no collar doesn't matter," he said. Rather, "it's the green in the dollar that makes all the difference," he said.

Thurmond stressed the importance of attacking Georgia's unemployment situation at the local level. He encouraged a collaborative effort among the chamber, educational institutions and the local labor office.

Larry Culpepper of North Georgia Technical College said the college is currently testing high school seniors; the local labor office is providing workshops and making information available regarding training programs, etc.

Asked about the impact the layoff at Delta Airline would have on Georgia workers, Thurmond said the company was struggling to maintain profitability and that was the reason for the 2,000 worker layoff. He called it a hit on the workforce, but said there was the possibility of an airline merger, which could bring its headquarters to Atlanta. He said he recognized that working folks on a fixed income were having a rough time with gas, food, etc going up. He called for Georgians to stand together in unity, not as separate divisions to build Georgia and the nation.

Finally, he called on everyone go love and support the men and women in uniform for their sacrifice of serving to defend America.