Georgia’s unemployment rate edged down to 4.9 percent in August from 5.0 percent in July, the state labor department said today.
The economy added 7,500 jobs during the month.
While the state economy has been growing faster than the nation’s, August’s numbers were pretty much in line with the national report for the month which showed solid, if unspectacular hiring.
It’s only one month and the data can be erratic and sometimes tough to decipher. On one hand, August’s numbers reflect a return of teachers, bus drivers and other workers to schools. On the other hand, it also reflects the late-summer slackness in some businesses.
In any case, the Labor Department does massage the data in an attempt to account for those seasonal patterns.
With all that in mind, economists often suggest caution about drawing conclusions without at least several months of data.
And Georgia’s longer term trend has been solidly positive, albeit a little slower than two years ago. Over the last 12 months, Georgia has added about 104,000 jobs.
Here are seven ways to sound smart in talking about Georgia’s jobless rate:
1. The Georgia unemployment rate has come down from 5.6 percent in August of last year – mostly on the strength of job creation.
At its post-recession worst, the Georgia jobless rate was 10.5 percent. Before the recession it was under 5.0 percent.
2. Georgia’s rate is now finally the same as the national rate of 4.9 percent.
It has been higher than the national average every month since the economy slipped into recession in late 2007.
3. Despite the improvement, there are still 242,000 Georgians looking for work in a workforce of nearly 4.9 million people.
That is the lowest number since late 2007 before the recession began. But a historically high share of the unemployed have been looking for more than six months. And anyone not actively looking for work is not officially counted as unemployed.
4. It was a slightly weaker than average July for job growth, at least compared to the three previous years. From July to August, the number of jobs in the state grew 7,500. The average August during the previous three years saw growth of 10,800 jobs.
5. The sectors adding the most employees was trade, transportation and warehousing, the logistics sector that includes the airport. That added 7,500 positions.
Also expanding were leisure and hospitality, up by 5,800, and local government, 3,000 – a sign of the schools reopening.
6. Job losses came in construction, 3,500, a break in a long arc of strong growth, health care and social assistance, 2,200, manufacturing, up by 2,100, and an addition of 2,000 jobs in other services.
7. Employers did lay off more people, though it was offset by more people getting jobs.
There were slightly more new claims for unemployment insurance in August than in August a year ago, a total of 27,238.
About the Author
