ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate rose slightly last month to 3.3%, up one-tenth of a point from the revised jobless rate of 3.2% the state posted in July, the Georgia Department of Labor reported Thursday.
Still, the state’s August unemployment rate was five-tenths lower than the national jobless rate of 3.8%.
The number of jobs, the number of employed Georgians, and the state’s labor force were all at all-time highs.
“Georgia’s labor market continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience and strength,” state Commissioner of Labor Bruce Thompson said Thursday. “While we saw a slight increase in the unemployment rate for August, our state remains well-positioned for growth and economic opportunity.”
Job numbers last month in the private education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and financial services sectors reached record highs.
Initial unemployment claims fell by 20% last month to 25,272. First-time jobless claims over the last year were down by 6%.
In July, there were more than 112,000 job listings posted online. The top-five industries for job openings were in health care; administrative and support services; retail trade; professional, scientific, and technical services; and accommodation and food services.
ATLANTA – U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff has reiterated his call for the state to reject permits for a planned titanium mine near the Okefenokee Swamp.
“This is a unique natural resource, a blackwater swamp … a site for recreation, outdoor education, and tourism,” Ossoff, D-Ga., said late last week during an event sponsored by the Georgia River Network. “It’s something to keep, a sacred place.”
Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals began seeking permits in 2019 to mine titanium oxide along Trail Ridge near the Okefenokee, the largest blackwater swamp in North America. The project has raised a storm of opposition from environmental groups and other defenders of the swamp, who have argued the mine would devastate the swamp by reducing water levels.
Legislation banning surface mining near the Okefenokee has been introduced in the General Assemly twice but failed to gain traction despite the support of 91 of the 180 members of the Georgia House of Representatives. However, lawmakers did adopt a nonbinding resolution last year calling for protecting the swamp as a valuable tourism resource.
Ossoff hosted Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on a tour of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in September of last year. Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary, said at the time the proposed mine posed a threat to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s ancestral homeland.
Ossoff did not mention Gov. Brian Kemp – a potential opponent to the senator’s expected bid for a second term in 2026 – during his remarks last Friday.
Kemp has not taken a position on the mine. The project’s opponents have cited campaign contributions to the governor from Twin Pines executives as a reason he has kept mum.
Since 2019, the Kemp campaign has received $4,500 from Steven Ingle, president of Twin Pines Minerals; $3,500 from Steve Allen, a lobbyist representing Twin Pines, and $1,000 from Twin Pines itself, according to the website OpenSecrets.org.
Kemp’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) is considering Twin Pines’ application for a Mining Land Use Plan permit (MLUP) after receiving more than 100,000 comments opposing the mine during a 60-day public comment period earlier this year.
“EPD asked the applicant to clarify some items in their MLUP, and we are currently awaiting their feedback,” agency spokesperson Sara Lips wrote in an email to Capitol Beat.
“Once we receive that follow-up, we will review and determine what the next steps will be based on the information they send us. Following this, the EPD will formally respond to public comments and technical feedback received.”
ATLANTA – The film industry spent $4.1 billion in Georgia during the last fiscal year, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Wednesday.
That was below the $4.4 billion film and television productions spent in the Peach State during the previous fiscal year but above the $4 billion in direct spending the industry posted in fiscal 2021 as Georgia began to emerge from the pandemic.
“Georgia remains a global leader in film, TV, and streaming productions,” Kemp said. “Those who benefit most from the significant growth we’ve seen in this industry over the past couple of decades are hardworking Georgians who fill the many behind-the-camera jobs that come with each project. That’s why we’ve worked hard to attract these and other opportunities for those who call the Peach State home.”
Georgia was an also-ran in terms of the film industry until the General Assembly enacted a lucrative tax credit for film and TV productions back in 2008. The year before the tax credit took effect, the industry generated a comparatively paltry $135 million in direct economic impact.
Since then, production studios have sprung up across the state, including a $200 million facility in Douglasville and a $180 million studio in Forest Park, both of which began construction in fiscal 2023.
Athena Studios, a $60 million investment in Athens, opened its doors last January, while Electric Owl Studios opened the world’s first ground-up LEED Gold-certified studio campus in DeKalb County in June.
During the last fiscal year, Georgia hosted 390 productions including 31 feature films, 55 independent films, 241 television and episodic productions, 40 commercials, and 23 music videos.
Lee Thomas, director of the Georgia Film Office, said some of the productions filmed locally will have an impact for decades to come.
“We know that tourists flock to Covington not only because of recent projects like ‘The Vampire Diaries’ but also because five episodes of ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ were shot there four decades ago,” she said. “In just a few seasons, ‘The Walking Dead’ helped transform Senoia from six storefronts to more than 150 small businesses downtown.
“Beyond the direct spend, it may take years, even decades, to understand the complete economic impact of a project on an area.”
Gaming, esports, and other interactive entertainment projects are also part of the production growth in Georgia but are not included in the film industry’s direct spend totals.
ATLANTA – A Macon woman has pleaded guilty in federal court to creating a false business claiming hundreds of non-existent employees in a tax fraud scheme that netted more than $3.5 million.
Lonnise Janelle Andrews, 43, pleaded guilty this week to one count of making and subscribing a false tax return, one count of false claim of a tax credit, and one count of false claim for a tax refund.
Andrews faces faces a maximum sentence of 13 years in prison and a maximum fine of $600,000. In addition, she has agreed to pay the IRS $331,758 in restitution.
According to court documents, Andrews falsified IRS tax forms for herself, her father, and a false business, including reporting incomes, losses, and withholdings she knew not to be true. She used a tax preparation website to generate fake forms that resulted in a refund check of $165,245 she was not entitled to but cashed anyway.
Andrews also created a fake business claiming 957 employees, applied for assistance through two federal pandemic relief programs for a tax credit worth nearly $3.1 million and a refund of nearly $26,000.
In reality, the fake company had no employees, had not paid any payroll taxes to qualify for a refund, and was not entitled to credits or refunds.
“Those engaged in tax refund schemes and fraud are breaking federal law and will be held accountable for these crimes,” U.S. Attorney Peter Leary said Tuesday. “Working with our law enforcement partners, we will seek justice on behalf of taxpayers.”
Gov. Brian Kemp addresses the annual Georgia Governor’s Tourism Conference
ATLANTA – Georgia’s tourism industry not only has recovered from COVID-19 but even surpassed pre-pandemic numbers.
A record 167.7 million domestic and international visitors traveled to the Peach State during the last calendar year, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Tuesday during the annual Georgia Governor’s Tourism Conference on Jekyll Island. Those tourists spent $39.8 billion, $2 billion above the record set in 2019 just before the pandemic struck.
“Thanks to Georgia’s incredible natural wonders, our great small towns with welcoming families, our major cities and attractions, and much more, our tourism industry continues to reach new heights,” Kemp said. “This historic growth is evidence that our pro-business policies are working, allowing us to compete like never before in all four corners of the state.”
For the third year in a row, Georgia maintained its No.-5 market share ranking for domestic overnight visitation among the 50 states and Washington, D.C.
State tourism officials credited the marketing campaign “Ready. Set. Georgia,” launched two years ago during the pandemic, with helping drive the increase in visitors. The state Department of Economic Development used a $5.8 million federal grant to help open new markets for travel to Georgia.
“Tourism is a key part of Georgia’s economic development success story, with benefits that spread across communities in all regions of our state,” said state Commissioner of Economic Development Pat Wilson.
The tourism record also contributed an all-time high $4.7 billion in state and local tax revenue last year, a 10.1% increase over 2021.
The three-day tourism conference drew more than 400 tourism industry professionals from across Georgia.
