DEL.ICIO.USUpdated: 6:46 p.m. January 22, 2009
For one Georgia family, it’s unemployment times 3
State’s jobless rate hit 8.1% in December
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Georgia’s unemployment rate in December climbed to 8.1 percent, up 80 percent in the past year to reach its highest level since 1983, the state Labor Department announced Thursday.
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RICH ADDICKS / raddicks@ajc.com
The Khilling family of Loganville is facing such hard times that Sharon (left) has pawned her weddding ring. She, her husband, John (standing), and her son-in-law, Andrew Flynt (on couch), have all lost their jobs.
During the past year, the state has lost nearly 122,000 jobs.
The pain has not been spread evenly: For instance, three of the job cuts came under the same roof in Loganville. Sharon Khilling lost her job as a legal secretary in November, the month after her husband was laid off from an auto-repair shop and several months after her son-in-law lost his job at Wal-Mart.
A legal secretary for 20 years, Khilling has tried a series of online job postings and registered with temp agencies. She has been unable even to land an interview.
“We are applying every day to every single job we can apply for,” Khilling said. “We can’t even get a nibble.”
Her household, which includes her daughter and two young grandchildren, has seen money trouble steadily seep through their lives. They have pawned her husband’s tools, as well as her laptop, jewelry and wedding ring.
“We have already lost our car,” she said. “We will probably lose our house. The utilities are going to be shut off before long. We don’t even have enough food in the house.”
In Georgia, 393,168 workers are looking for work, the Labor Department said. Roughly 40 percent of them are drawing unemployment insurance benefits. In the past, Georgia was often insulated from the worst of the damage. Not this time: For 11 consecutive months, the state’s jobless rate has floated above the U.S. average.
A year ago, Georgia’s unemployment rate was 4.5 percent and the U.S. rate was 4.9 percent. Last month, as Georgia climbed above 8 percent, the national rate was rising to 7.2 percent.
Nationally, new jobless claims climbed last week to 589,000. That figure has not been higher since the early 1980s.
“This adds further evidence that the labor market is rapidly deteriorating,” wrote economist Andrew Gledhill of Moody’s Economy.com in an online post Thursday.
Job numbers so far are worse than in the recessions of 2001 and 1990-91, yet not as bad as during the steep, painful, 16-month downturn of 1981-82.
Unemployment back then hit 10.8 percent nationally, while weekly jobless claims soared briefly to 700,000 in a labor market that was about one-third percent smaller than it is now.
The current recession started in late 2007, and the most optimistic projections call for a bottoming out midway through this year. Many other economists think it will last well into 2010. Unemployment is likely to keep rising, since jobless rates usually rise until after a recession has ended. Signs are that this one is not yet nearing the end.
For example, the Census Bureau reported Thursday that housing starts — which tend to parallel the broader economy — fell last month to their lowest level since World War II. Yet even in the worst of months, millions of Americans each month do find jobs.
And while job losses outnumber gains, hiring continues across a range of descriptions and a wide spectrum of pay.
Last week, about 150 people came to the DeKalb Medical Center for a job fair for a range of specialized professionals, including nursing jobs. The fair was aimed at filling 90 positions, said spokesman Mike Tu.
A vastly different set of skills are needed at Dixieland Fun Park in Fayetteville, which will hold a job fair Tuesday.
At least 40 people will be hired, including singers, dancers and other performers for new entertainment offerings, said spokeswoman Nani Mathews.
Some jobs, like those in business management, sales, marketing and maintenance, will start at $8 to $10 an hour, while others will pay minimum wage, she said.
The search for a paycheck often leads job-seekers to temporary staffing companies.
And in recent months, inquiries have nearly doubled at Ajilon, said Michelle Brewer, Atlanta-based senior staffing manager at the global company.
Hiring in many sectors has dried up. Still, education and healthcare workers, as well as finance and accounting professionals are in demand, she said.
“But it’s still an employers’ market. Employers can get top talent for a lot less than they could have two years ago.”
Job seekers do better if they stay positive, flexible and persistent in their networking, while trying many different approaches, she said. “You have to be willing to do something outside what you normally do to get your foot in the door. There is no one way to find a job.”
Job losses by city(December ‘08 vs. December ‘07)
Dalton: 4,100, 5.2 percent
Atlanta: 82,000, 3.3 percent
Warner Robins: 1,800, 3 percent
Valdosta: 1,700, 3 percent
Augusta: 5,100, 2.3 percent
Columbus: 2,700, 2.2 percent
Savannah: 3,000, 1.8 percent
Macon: 1,600, 1.6 percent
Albany: 800, 1.2 percent
Gainesville: 700, 0.9 percent
Athens: 100, 0.1 percent
Source: Georgia Labor Department
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