A year ago, metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate stood at 10.3 percent.
Two months ago, it was 10.3 percent.
And, last month, according to figures released Thursday by the Georgia Department of Labor, the jobless rate was -- you guessed it -- 10.3 percent.
“Not enough jobs are being added to accommodate the people entering the workforce,” said David Boldt, chairman of the economics department at the University of West Georgia. “It’s the same story here as it is across most of suburban Atlanta. You won’t get the unemployment rate down until job growth exceeds the new entries.”
The jobless pain spread uniformly across North Georgia. Clayton County, for example, notched the 28-county Atlanta region’s highest unemployment rate -- 12.8 percent in September. Gwinnett County posted a 9.2-percent rate.
The city of Atlanta’s rate was 11.5 percent, up from 11.3 percent a year ago.
The Atlanta region has lost 25,900 jobs since September last year, most in the services industries. Jobs for construction workers, Internet service providers, mortgage brokers, government employees and hotel workers also disappeared en masse.
A metro Atlanta bright spot: manufacturing, which added 4,200 jobs over the past year.
The manufacturing picture isn’t as rosy in blue-collar Dalton with the highest unemployment rate -- 12.5 percent -- of any of the state’s 14 metropolitan regions. The nation’s housing morass continues to hurt North Georgia’s carpet and flooring industries.
Shaw Industries announced two weeks ago the closure of yet another factory -- its fourth this year in Dalton, according to local press reports – and the dismissal of 275 workers.
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