October-to-November unemployment rates for the last decade
October / November (in percentages)
2005 — 5.2 / 5.1
2006 — 4.6 / 4.6
2007 — 4.9 / 4.9
2008 — 7.2 / 7.6
2009 — 10.4 / 10.4
2010 — 10.2 / 10.3
2011 — 9.8 / 9.6
2012 — 8.8 / 8.7
2013 — 7.8 / 7.6
2014 — 7.6 / 7.2
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Georgia’s unemployment rate fell to 7.2 percent in November, the largest month-to-month drop since 1976 and hard proof that more people are getting hired and fewer laid off.
The jobless rate stood at a revised 7.6 percent a month ago, as it did in November 2013. It has fallen three months in a row as retailers, warehouses, factories and delivery companies keep hiring. Employers added 23,400 jobs last month pushing the state total to 4.2 million — the most since December 2007.
“We’ve got almost 99,000 more jobs today than we did in the same period last year which is a very good number,” said Georgia labor commissioner Mark Butler, whose agency released the monthly numbers Thursday. “I’m especially impressed by what the manufacturing sector is doing with almost five percent job growth over the last 12 months.”
On queue, Hyundai Glovis Georgia, a logistics company serving the booming Korean auto industry, announced Thursday a new auto parts center in West Point, where Kia has a plant. Hyundai Glovis is expected to eventually add 190 jobs.
Despite the good jobs news, workers remain skittish about the overall prospects for Georgia’s economy. The state remains 115,000 jobs shy of its pre-recession peak. Georgia’s jobless rate has yo-yoed this year, dropping to 7.2 percent in May then rising to 8.1 percent in August before heading downward again.
Georgia continues to lag badly the national unemployment rate of 5.8 percent. And, for three months running, no state has carried a higher jobless rate. The next round of state-by-state comparisons comes out Friday.
“I’d like to work. I’d like to make some money. I’m open to anything,” said Max Booz, 38, applying for unemployment benefits Wednesday at the state labor office in Gwinnett County. Booz lost his temp job, working as an auto technician, last month.
“There’s jobs, but they’re limited, and you’ve got to have certain skills,” Booz continued in the half-empty waiting room. “I know computers and I can drive a truck and I don’t mind doing industrial work or food service. Ten dollars and up is good for me.”
Much of the employment run-up the last few months has been temp work for the holidays: sales clerks; couriers; waitresses; dry cleaners. Many such jobs, though, disappear once Christmas is over.
A recent Pew Research Center report shows that retail companies typically boost payrolls by 3 to 4 percent between October and December. Each December-to-February period, though, retail jobs drop off 5 to 6 percent.
“Tis the season to cut hours, which makes it harder to get a job now,” said Victoria Lee, 49, of Roswell, who can’t survive on her part-time job at Cracker Barrel. “You really need two or three retail jobs to make it unless you have a spouse or a partner. But then retailers let (employees) all go at the beginning of the year.”
The overall jobs drop-off won’t likely be so severe in Georgia next month. The December-to-January employment loss is usually one-tenth or two-tenths of a percentage during non-recessionary years, according to state labor department data. Georgia’s overall job rate ticked up a healthy 2.4 percent during the last year — the biggest November-to-November growth surge since 2005. Private companies accounted for 96 percent of the jobs too.
“In addition to strong job growth that has made Georgia a leading state in job creation for several months, we saw our total number of initial claims for unemployment insurance in November fall to the lowest point in more than 14 years,” said commissioner Butler.
The 28,000 new claims filed in November were the fewest since June 2000.
“I try to be positive about anything. I’m positive I’ll get a job,” said Lee, who’s hedging her bets by taking early education classes at Gwinnett Tech. “I’ve just got to keep on searching.”
