Metro Atlanta unemployment rate dips

By Michael E. Kanell

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Metro Atlanta’s jobless rate fell slightly in August, tracking a similar dip in the Georgia rate announced last week.

In both cases, the state Labor Department said the decline did not signal an improving job market.

The metro area unemployment rate slipped to 10.4 percent in August from 10.6 percent the month before, “primarily due to workforce shrinkage,” the Labor Department said Thursday.

The rate will probably go up over the next few months, but the way it is calculated means that it sometimes falls when things are getting worse, said Robert Allsbrook, chief economist for Birmingham-based Regions Bank.

The calculation does not include anyone who goes back to school, who stays home with children or parents, or who simply become too discouraged to look. It also doesn’t include anyone who has left the state.

Counting only those working and actively looking, Atlanta’s labor force has shrunk 3 percent during the past year.

When word gets out that hiring has started again, many of those people may return to the job search, said Allsbrook, who was in Atlanta Thursday to talk with clients and company officials.

“In recovery periods, a lot of folks start to get counted as unemployed because they are encouraged enough to be looking for work.”

He expects the jobless rate to crest in late winter or spring, rising about 1 point from its current level.

Georgia’s rate in August was 10.2 percent, compared to the national rate of 9.7 percent. The state has reported a higher rate for 22 consecutive months.

In metro Atlanta the number of officially unemployed people — out of work and actively looking for a job — was estimated at 277,585 in August, down nearly 9,000 from July. But number of people who were working dropped more — by 23,365.

Over the past year the number of people working in metro Atlanta has fallen by 179,167, or 6.2 percent, the Labor Department says. More than half the state’s jobs are in metro Atlanta.

The worst losses came in trade, transportation and warehousing, manufacturing, professional and business services, including temporary employment agencies, and construction, according to the Labor Department. The only growth was in healthcare and private educational services.

The state’s highest rate was in Dalton, at 12.5, down from 13.1 in July. The lowest was Warner Robbins at 7.2 percent, down from 7.5 percent.