It is a good news-bad news unemployment situation in Gordon County. Fewer people filed for initial unemployment benefits in Gordon County last month over last November, but the rate filed for the county was higher in November than it had been in October.

According to data from the Georgia Department of Labor:

During the month of November 770 people filed initial unemployment claims, down from 1,255 in November 2008, a 38.6 annual decrease.

However, the county did see a 8.1 percent increase from October to November of this year.

Statewide, 72,298 laid-off workers filed initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits in November, a decrease of 2,182 from November 2008.

“This is an improvement of less than three percent in the number of layoffs from the same months last year, when we were in the midst of a severe economic meltdown,” said State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond. “America’s big financial institutions and Wall Street appear to have stabilized; unfortunately, Georgia’s job market is showing little improvement.”

The number of claims in Georgia increased 2.4 percent from October of this year.

State unemployment claims were from workers in many sectors of the economy, including manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, construction and administrative and support services.

According to DOL data, Georgia workers draw unemployment benefits for an average of nearly 15 weeks.

Additional reporting by Lydia Senn.