The AJC reports that huge numbers of Georgians continue to file claims for unemployment insurance and more grim job reports lie ahead, but the state’s battered economy may be showing faint signs of life. More than 96,000 Georgians filed new jobless claims last month, a 126 percent leap from March a year ago, the state Labor Department said Thursday. And the state’s unemployment rate, now at 9.3 percent, should break into double digits in the next month or two, said Michael Thurmond, state commissioner of labor. Yet, the state’s manufacturing sector has been growing modestly for four straight months. Moreover, the skyrocketing, triple-digit growth in the number of Georgians seeking unemployment insurance may be starting to slow. During the first week of April, new jobless claims rose only half as fast as they have in recent months, Thurmond said. Economists don’t expect a turnaround anytime soon. [source]
