Georgia was nearly the worst for year-over-year job losses in July.

The Peach State lost 39,100 nonfarm jobs in the past 12 months, according to the latest seasonally adjusted figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That landed it at 49th out of the 50 states and District of Columbia.

The Georgia Department of Labor reported last week the state’s unemployment rate improved 0.1 points to 9.9 percent in July. But the slight dip in the unemployment rate was due mostly to the state’s labor force shrinking by 21,043 from June to July, as long-term unemployed workers became discouraged and gave up their job search. Coupled with the increase of 19,026 discouraged workers in June, Georgia’s labor force has deteriorated by more than 40,000 during the past two months. This was the first time since 2001 that Georgia has experienced significant reductions in the labor force for two consecutive months.

Read more: Atlanta Business Chronicle