As the Texas economy recovers from the COVID-19 shutdown earlier this year, another Southern state, Georgia, is outperforming the Lone Star State.
Georgia’s unemployment rate dropped in August to 5.6% from 7.6% in July, Gov. Brian Kemp announced. This is lower than the 6.8% in Texas for August, which was down from 8% in July. It is also lower than the national unemployment rate of 8.4%.
“While we still face challenges ahead, Georgia has recovered over 65% of the jobs lost since March and cut our unemployment rate by more than half since April,” Kemp said in a statement. “New cases of COVID-19, current hospitalizations, and positivity rate all continue to decline.”
Georgia was one of the first states to begin reopening from COVID-19 shutdowns this spring, prompting widespread criticism from the national media. In Texas the unemployment rate has doubled since the first of the year and 3.5 million people have filed for unemployment since March, the Texas Tribune reported.
The Federal Reserve in August said Texas will recover some of its lost jobs later this year but it won’t be enough to reverse the losses in March and April, the Tribune said.
The COVID-19 shutdown severely damaged the Texas economy, possibly for the long term, according to a study by the Texas Recovery Alliance.
“Many Texas businesses face the prospect of permanent closure and, therefore, the prospect for our state to suffer longer-term economic and reputational damage under policies that allow less than full economic activity,” the group said.
Texas leaders should take action to “fully reopen” the economy, it recommended.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s steadily improving economy is attracting national attention.
“Remember when national press corps portrayed Gov. Brian Kemp as a villain for reopening the state’s economy too soon?” the Wall Street Journal wrote in an editorial. “Well, more than a few states would like to be in the Peach State’s pandemic and fiscal position now.”
Georgia’s budget deficit, once predicted to be $1 billion, is now a quarter of that amount, the editorial said.
“Mr. Kemp says sales tax revenue is rebounding and the state hasn’t exhausted its $700 million reserve fund,” the Journal wrote.
Georgia’s has AAA bond rating and new economic development projects announced just in July and August represent $642 million and 4,000 jobs, Kemp said.
As of Oct. 1, Georgia had 318,026 confirmed cases of COVID-19, fifth highest in the nation. Texas is second with 784,027 confirmed cases. Texas has more than seven times as many people as Georgia.
