Atlanta’s unemployment rate ticked up a tenth of a percent in August. The state’s jobless rate also rose about a half a point. Thursday Democratic state Senator and gubernatorial candidate Jason Carter met with some of the jobless to hear their stories.

Broadcast version.

At the Silver Skillet in Midtown, Carter spoke with five Georgians who’ve had trouble finding work after losing their jobs.

Lamont Hawthorne has two associate degrees and a bachelor’s in construction technology. He’s been laid off three times in three years and said he’s worked 15 months out of the last 36.

“It’s been crushing,” he told Carter. “We’re barely surviving at this point. I’m very concerned that my optimism may outrun my resources, and that’s going to happen very soon.”

Afterwards, outside the restaurant, Carter said he was struck by the stories he heard.

“It just speaks much more effectively than the fact that you’ve got an unemployment number, which too often just gets debated as a statistic instead of the fact that you’re talking about human beings, Georgians out there who are struggling,” he said.

Sarah Todd was laid off in November 2011. She had no luck finding work, so after a while she stopped looking. She is counting on Carter to fix the jobs picture, although she doesn’t blame Gov. Nathan Deal for the recession.

“That was not Deal’s fault,” she said. “But it was especially his fault in how you handle it. I have friends all over this country and their industries are going like gangbusters, but here in Georgia, we’ve ground to a halt.”

Deal has questioned the rising jobless rate, noting the state continues to add jobs. Carter says there aren’t enough well-paying jobs, adding that the state’s per capita income is dropping.