ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.4% in December for the fourth month in a row, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.
The Peach State continued to outperform the nation, with the national jobless rate at 3.7%.
The December report capped a “blockbuster” year that saw the state continue to set employment records. The outlook for this year continues to be strong, Georgia Commissioner of Labor Bruce Thompson said.
“With existing companies continuing to expand and a stream of new companies calling Georgia home, 2024 appears to be headed for all-time highs again,” he said.
Georgia’s labor force rose by 2,864 last month to a record high of more than 5.36 million, while the labor force participation rate held at 61.6% for the third consecutive month.
The number of employed Georgians also rose by 4,804 in December to nearly 5.18 million, also an all-time high.
The number of jobs declined slightly last month – by 0.1% – but posted a 2% increase over the course of 2023.
First-time unemployment claims rose 11% in December to 24,802. But first-time jobless claims were down for the year, also by 11%.
Job sectors posting the biggest gains during the year were health care and social assistance, gaining 29,300 jobs; followed by accommodation and food services jobs, which increased by 28,600.
ATLANTA – A nonprofit health-care organization announced plans Wednesday to help financially struggling rural hospitals in Georgia in danger of closing.
Ohio-based CareSource will contribute $5 million in emergency funding to hospitals and hospital-owned nursing homes in rural communities suffering critical cash deficits. Working in partnership with Cumming-based HomeTown Health, which represents rural hospitals across Georgia, the CareSource Rural Access Advancement Program will provide bridge loans to be repaid and reinvested into the program once the recipient has stabilized.
Since 2010, nine rural hospitals have closed in Georgia, third-most in the nation.
“These closures have devastating effects on the communities they serve,” CareSource President Jason Bearden said during a news conference at the state Capitol. “Residents are left without access to emergency services or preventive care.”
HomeTown Health CEO Jimmy Lewis said closed hospitals also hurt the economies in rural communities that rely on them for employment and as a magnet to help attract jobs. He said the program aims to get help to struggling rural hospitals before it’s too late to save them.
“The whole intent is to identify problem hospitals enough in advance that we don’t have to make quick decisions,” Lewis said.
“This is another step toward stabilizing health care in rural Georgia,” added Jonathon Greene, CEO of Taylor Regional Hospital in Hawkinsville.
CareSource serves more than 450,000 Georgians and has members in eight states in the South and Midwest.
ATLANTA – There isn’t time to remove QR codes from paper ballots in Georgia, as Republican legislative leaders have proposed, before this year’s elections, GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Wednesday.
“I would support moving to human-readable text,” Raffensperger said during the second day of legislative hearings on Gov. Brian Kemp’s budget recommendations. “The challenge is getting it done for the 2024 election.”
The General Assembly passed legislation in 2019 providing for a paper backup to electronic ballots, a move aimed at giving Georgians more confidence their votes are being recorded accurately. But some voters have complained that the QR codes that accompany paper ballots are confusing and impose a barrier on transparency.
Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, said last week House Republicans will push to eliminate the QR codes. On the Senate side, Republicans have been calling for eliminating the QR codes since last fall.
“We’ve been talking about getting rid of the QR codes for a long time,” Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told Raffensperger Wednesday. “Citizens do not trust the QR code.”
But Raffensperger said this year’s elections are rapidly approaching, starting with the presidential primaries in March and followed in short order by congressional and legislative primary elections in May.
“We’re already into the election of 2024,” he said. “We’re continuing with the system we have now.”
Raffensperger is asking for more than $5.2 million in his fiscal 2025 budget request to begin the process of upgrading the state’s voting equipment by installing new software in every voting machine in Georgia. However, that would require testing of the new equipment over six to nine months, he said.
The secretary also is looking to hire additional investigators for the agency’s Elections Division.
“Delays in investigations can have a serious impact on some voters’ confidence,” he said.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, said getting rid of the QR codes would not require new legislation.
“The No.-1 issue is the removal of the QR codes,” he said.
But Raffensperger said passing a new law isn’t the issue.
“It’s really the technology and having that available from the vendors,” he said.
Raffensperger defended the current system Georgia uses for elections, pointing to a poll conducted by the University of Georgia that found 90% of respondents expressed confidence in the integrity of the 2022 elections.
ATLANTA – The University System of Georgia’s new direct admissions program is off to a strong start, despite not getting off the ground until well after classes began last fall, system Chancellor Sonny Perdue said Wednesday.
Nearly 12,000 high school seniors had requested information about the GEORGIA MATCH program through Jan. 7 or taken it a step further by claiming a spot at one of the system’s 23 colleges and universities participating in the initiative.
“It’s working as we hoped,” Perdue told members of the university system’s Board of Regents. “(But) it’s the beginning. We’re just getting started.”
More than 132,000 seniors received personalized letters from Gov. Brian Kemp last October listing the public universities, colleges and technical colleges they are academically eligible to attend. The letters went on to explain how students can claim a spot being held for them at the institution of their choice.
Georgia’s workforce development needs drove the planning for GEORGIA MATCH. an effort the Governor’s Office put together in collaboration with the Georgia Student Finance Commission, the university system, the Technical College System of Georgia, the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, and the state Department of Education.
Three university system institutions – the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Georgia College & State University – are not participating in the program because they have different, more stringent admission requirements.
The schools that are participating will waive application fees again in March to encourage students to take part in the program, as they did last November.
“This seems like an excellent generator of applications,” said Scott Lingrell, the university system’s vice chancellor for research and policy analysis, who gave the regents an update on GEORGIA MATCH.
Several regents said they were impressed with the results so far and the program’s proactive nature.
“It’s incredible what we’re doing,” said Regent Jose Perez of Peachtree Corners. “We’re chasing students and trying to bring them in.”
Lingrell said he expects GEORGIA MATCH to take off in a big way heading into the fall semester this year since the system is offering the program earlier in the year than in 2023.
The program is expected to cost $1.3 million during its first year, funding that is included in the Georgia Student Finance Commission’s fiscal 2024 budget.
Interested high school seniors and their families can log onto GAfutures.org for more information on GEORGIA MATCH.
ATLANTA – State School Superintendent Richard Woods has appointed a literacy coaching expert in the Marietta city school system to develop and lead a statewide literacy coaching model in Georgia.
As structured literacy coaching coordinator, J. Nicholas Philmon will retain his position with the Marietta district while contracting with the state agency to build the capacity of schools and districts to deliver proven, nationally recognized training in structured literacy and the science of reading.
“Developing a tiered, statewide coaching model – with buy-in from local districts and schools and a common, proven framework – is key to the continued success of Georgia’s early literacy initiatives,” Woods said Wednesday.
“Marietta City Schools has been a leader in the shift to structured literacy and the science of reading, and I’m thrilled we’ll have Dr. Philmon on board to support our statewide efforts to ensure all students learn to read – and read to learn.”
In his new role, Philmon will work with a design team of experts to create a detailed coaching plan, direct the hiring process for regional literacy support coaches, and provide training to regional coaches and educators throughout the state.
His work will complement and directly support the state Department of Education’s partnership with the Rollins Center for Language & Literacy to provide literacy courses for K-5 teachers and leaders.
The state has made a major commitment to improving literacy in Georgia in the last couple of years. The General Assembly passed two bills last year introducing two related approaches to literacy instruction: “the science of reading” and “structured literacy.”
The science of reading bundles together instruction on phonics with reading comprehension and vocabulary. “Structured literacy,” as defined by one of the new laws, refers to an “evidence-based approach to teaching oral and written language … characterized by explicit, systematic, cumulative, and diagnostic instruction.”
Gov. Brian Kemp’s proposed fiscal 2025 state budget contains $11.3 million for literacy initiatives, including funds for the regional literacy coaches and screeners for K-3 students.
Philmon holds a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from Mercer University, where his research focused on teacher coaching.
