Georgia’s unemployment rate dipped in May but partly for the wrong reason: The labor force shrank.
The Department of Labor said Thursday the state’s economy added a modest number of jobs last month as the unemployment rate edged to 4.1% from 4.3% in April. That’s down sharply from a pandemic high of 12.5% in April 2020.
But the unemployment rate is based on the number of people in the labor force, either working or looking for a job, and that number shrank by 12,478 last month. That suggests more jobless Georgians stopped looking for work.
“Although the unemployment rate has continued to trend downward for the past 13 months, the focus should not be on the rate,” said Mark Butler, the state’s labor commissioner. “We have a serious workforce issue reflected in the monthly drop in the labor force.”
That issue is the apparent reluctance — or inability — of many people to return to work. Butler, who has argued that too-generous unemployment benefits are to blame, has endorsed Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to end participation in the federal pandemic programs that support the jobless.
That means about 211,000 Georgians will stop getting unemployment payments altogether. About 58,000 others will keep their state benefits but lose a $300-a-week federal subsidiary. The programs expire in September, but Georgia will stop disbursing federal funds June 26.
Butlers said he hears from many employers who have job openings they cannot fill, and that the state’s jobs site lists 233,000 positions with many employers willing to train new hires.
If the share of people working were the same as pre-pandemic, 45,000 more people would have jobs, he said. “We need to see our labor force increase dramatically.”
Critics say benefits are only one of the causes for the shortfall. Some people are still worried about COVID-19. About 100,000 households in Georgia had children at home because of the pandemic, with many adults forgoing work or cutting hours to care for them, according to a recent Census Bureau survey.
And not all positions are as attractive as they appear.
Yolanda Gray of Alpharetta, who lost her job in retail at the start of the pandemic, said she’s been applying for jobs that pay decently only to find that the employer will not commit to 40 hours in a week.
“They are really hiring for part-time,” she said. “You go back to work, but you make less money. That’s the trick and that is why people like me aren’t working yet.”
The economy added 7,000 jobs last month, slightly less than its average for May in the decade before the pandemic. The sector with the strongest growth was health care and social assistance, which added 2,900 jobs. The sector that took the worst hit during the pandemic — accommodation and food services — added 1,500 jobs.
Overall, Georgia’s economy has added 424,000 jobs in the past 12 months, but remains shy of its pre-pandemic level by 185,400 jobs.
The state last week processed 22,524 jobless claims, virtually the same as the prior week. Many of those claims are people who have been out of work for a year and are required to reapply for benefits, officials said.
Georgia jobs increase/decrease
During May, 2021: 7,000
Since April, 2020: 424,100
Compared to Feb., 2020: -185,400
Georgia unemployed*
May, 2021: 211,717
April, 2020: 620,840
Feb., 2020: 179,769
Georgia unemployment* rate
May, 2021: 4.1%
April, 2020: 12.5%
Feb., 2020: 3.5%
Georgia’s weekly claims for jobless benefits
Average, March: 28,436
Average, April: 33,288
Average, May: 25,853
Highest, pre-pandemic: 41,522 (Jan. 10, 2009)
Highest, during pandemic: 390,132 (April 4, 2020)
Average, pre-pandemic year: 5,548
Last week: 22,524
*Includes only adults looking for a job
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Georgia Department of Labor
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