The latest unemployment numbers show a slight improvement for Macon's economy, while Warner Robins' stayed the same.

According to the numbers, Macon's unemployment rate declined in the month of February.

The current rate sits at 10.3 percent. That's down from 10.4 percent in January.

The Labor Department says there were 400 new jobs and fewer layoffs.

Unemployment rates decreased in 20 of the state's 25 local areas. The other five remained the same.

One of those that remained the same was Warner Robins.

The unemployment rate in the International City sits at 7.8 percent. That's the same as in January. The area added 100 jobs in February, and there were fewer layoffs in construction, retail trade, and administrative and support services.

In Perry, one woman turned the slow economy into a chance to pursue dreams of opening her own business.

-Written by Senator Robert Brown and Senator Cecil Staton, Submitted by the Senate Press Office.

As the recession ends and we begin the long, hard period of re-growth, Macon and Bibb County are on the cusp of a potential new era. Many look forward to a time, as we saw in the late 1990s, where economic development projects brought people, industries and jobs to Macon. Private/public partnerships constructed shopping centers, riverside walk ways and museums. Downtown historic districts received long-needed facelifts.

It may not seem like it right now, but those days could return sooner than we might think – we just have to push them along a little.