Around Our Area: Southwest Georgia Health Care Premiums and Potential for Future Job Growth

Even in Southwest Georgia, Affordable Care Act signups find momentum

Alice Jaye has not had health insurance for years.

Though the Colquitt resident has a restaurant job, it does not pay that much and does not offer coverage.

Jaye lives in the southwest corner of the state – a region that had extremely high premiums for exchange coverage in the first year of enrollment.

Southwest Georgia gained national prominence for those insurance rates, which were reported to be the second-highest in the country, behind only ski resort areas of Colorado.

To read the full story, please visit the Rome News-Tribune.

Georgia’s jobs of future call for teamwork, technical skills

The No. 1 attribute that business leaders say will they want in their employees is the ability to collaborate, according to a report to Gov. Nathan Deal on high demand careers.

The report also states the top five careers of the future in Georgia will be mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, welder, machinist, and computer numerical control operator, according to the report.

The report comes as a December report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says Georgia continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the nation. The BLS reported that 364,700 Georgians were unemployed in October. Georgia’s unemployment rate was dropping more slowly than most other states in the south, according to the report.

To read the full story, visit the Saporta Report blog.