The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The immense population growth that Georgia has experienced in the last few decades is declining. Evidence to the new trend is seen in public school attendance, where schools have added significantly less students last fall than the previous years. The Department of Driver Services reported that the number of out-of-state driver's license transfers in 2008 has dropped for the second consecutive year. Although the state of Georgia anticipated adding two congressional seats after the 2010 Census, it is likely to add only one. The slowing growth in Georgia is likely to affect its economy the most. The state's unemployment rate has been above the national average for the past twelve months. As a state that has withered previous recessions and consistently attracted workers in the past, it is now encountering the hardships of the economic recession, just like its peer metropolitan cities in other regions of the nation.