"The South is #1"

The South is # 1. Once having the lowest unemployment rate in the Republic, the South now has the highest unemployment rate at 17%. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, several Southern states, including South Carolina, whose 11.1% unemployment rate is the fourth highest in the nation, have higher unemployment rates than they did a year ago. Unemployment in the South is now higher than it is in the Northeast and the Midwest, which include Rust Belt states that were struggling before the recession took center stage.

Of the states with the 10 highest unemployment rates, six (6) are in the South. The region which once relied heavily on manufacturing and construction was dealt a significant blow by the economic downturn.

For more than 30 years, the nation's economic landscape consisted of a prospering Sun Belt and a struggling Rust Belt. However, since the recession enveloped the nation, all that has changed. Unemployment remains high across much of the Republic stubbornly holding at 9.1%.

There are more than 3,000,000 of our southern families who are unemployed and require employment to provide for their families. I'm challenging the Republican governors representing the Southern states to turn their focus on creating jobs and cease from toiling in partisan politics.

I'm challenging you to make the citizenry of the great states in the South your #1 priority. Anything less and you'll find yourself unemployed in your re-election bid.



"Progressives will bring balance to the Republic"
Anthony P. Johnson