Both local governments are trying to combat the region’s high unemployment rate and the nation’s economic slump by facilitating economic growth.

According to Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) statistics, Douglas County’s unemployment rate in June was 10.7, which is slightly above the state’s 10.1 percent average.

Officials said the current statewide percentage is the highest ever recorded in Georgia.

Most jobs lost in the state since June 2008 came in professional and business services, GDOL officials said, including temporary employment agencies, manufacturing, trade, transportation and warehousing, and in the construction industry.

“Douglas County has especially been hit hard for those who work in the home building industry and for residents who were once part of a thriving Atlanta job market,” said Jamie Bennett, assistant to County Administrator Eric Linton. “In an effort to emerge from this down slide in the economy, Douglas County government is partnering with the Homebuilders Association and Chamber of Commerce as well as always working to attract businesses from across the country to relocate or locate to our county.”

Douglas County Development Authority (DCDA) Executive Director Robert Reynolds said the authority is “watching the economic situation and doing what we can to attract new businesses and industries to Douglas County.”

According to Reynolds, the DCDA may soon announce an agreement with a small employer which will bring 70 new jobs to the county.

“Seventy is not a lot, but every little bit helps in this environment,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds said the Southeast as a whole is being hit hard by the struggling economy, as several neighboring states have unemployment rates above 11 percent.

The DCDA is also working on several projects that may bring larger employers to the county, Reynolds added.

The county will lose a reported 114 jobs next year when Proctor and Gamble Company closes its Nioxin plant in Lithia Springs.

City Manager Bill Osborne said the city’s recent decision to cut 22 jobs in May is connected to the downturn in the economy locally and nationally.

Osborne said some jobs cut from the city’s 2009/2010 fiscal year budget like a building inspector, Development and Zoning official, code enforcement specialist and permit coordinator were expendable because “little new residential or commercial construction is going on.”

The city of Douglasville reactivated its authority last year as a way to encourage businesses to bring new jobs to the city.

Osborne served as interim chairman of the authority until Jamie Gilbert was hired for that full-time position earlier this year.

The City Development Authority has recently been in talks with Georgia Highlands College about securing a temporary site for a satellite campus in Douglasville.