According to statistics from the Georgia Department of Labor job losses in the Northwest portion of the state are higher than the state wide numbers.

In the latest round of bad news numbers released from Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond’s office, Northwest Georgia has seen job losses of 5.2% from this time last year.  That compares with job losses of 2.9% state wide.

The flooring industry has been especially hard hit with the downturn in the housing market.  An estimated 4,100 jobs have been lost in Northwest Georgia. State-wide there are over 349,000 Georgians without jobs and of that number about 40% are drawing unemployment benefits.