Thursday updates: Latest reports on jobless claims in our region

First-time jobless benefit claims hit 1,110 in Floyd last month

	Oct. 2008	Sept. 2008	Oct. 2007	Year v. year
Bartow	1,060	663	574	84.7%
Chattooga	96	97	81	18.5%
Floyd	1,110	882	599	85.3%
Gordon	1,022	954	620	64.8%
Polk	457	370	219	108.7
Georgia	72,627	56,652	41,506	75.0%

Source: Georgia Department of Labor

>Updated with numbers from surrounding counties at 8:40 a.m.

Another jolt to the economy was in the e-mail inbox this morning: The Georgia Department of Labor reports first-time jobless claims soared by 85 percent in Rome, coming in at 1,110 claims in October vs. 599 in the same month last year

-In Polk County, reports more than doubled vs. last October while Gordon saw a 65 percent jump and Bartow saw almost an 85 percent increase.

-Statewide: the increase in year-over-year benefit claims was 75 percent (Details).

-Among the hardest hit: nearby Dalton with nearly 4,300 claims filed last month. 

-Says Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond: "For the third consecutive month, initial claims in Georgia have risen by more than 70 percent over the year. These statistics confirm that Georgians are facing a difficult economic environment. The rising tide of unemployment, housing foreclosures, the credit and fiscal crisis and the lingering drought have converged to form a perfect storm." 

-Layoffs have come across-the-board: Manufacturing, construction, retail trade and private employment agencies have been especially hard hit, labor officials say. The latest in Rome: 91 jobs cut at Temple-Inland's box plant.