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(AP) -- Officials are gathering in Atlanta Monday to brainstorm on ways to pull Georgia out of the lingering recession. 

The Georgia Jobs Summit is being held at Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center, downtown. The goal, according to Georgia Department of Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, is developing a strategy to spur private sector job creation and hiring. 

The meeting comes just days after the department reported that more than 100,000 laid-off workers filed initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits in December, an increase of nearly 40 percent over the previous month. 

Thurmond pointed to weak Christmas sales for helping keep employment depressed that month.

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