Georgia’s jobless rate dipped to 6.4 percent in January, the lowest level since the Great Recession hit in 2008.
A month earlier, the unemployment rate stood at a revised 6.6 percent, the state labor department reported Thursday. A year ago January, it was 7.3 percent. Georgia has since added 132,000 jobs, a 3.2 percent boost.
“This is the strongest January-to-January growth we’ve had in 20 years, going back to 1995 during the economic buildup to the Atlanta Summer Olympics,” labor commissioner Mark Butler said.
Employment grew across the board: transportation, warehousing, hospitality, retail and manufacturing. Job growth wasn’t limited to low-wage, low-skill work, either.
The professional, scientific and technical services sector, which requires “a high degree of expertise and training,” according to the Census Bureau, added 15,300 jobs since January 2014, a 6.3 percent surge. More lawyers, accountants, architects, ad reps and veterinarians found work, mostly in the Atlanta area.
Still, Georgia lags the national unemployment rate of 5.7 percent. Most other states in the Southeast have lower jobless rates. And the state tallies far fewer jobs than the last time the rate was this low — 6.3 percent in July 2008.
Today, 4.2 million Georgians are employed — 400,000 fewer than before the recession.
“The economy is sort of in between. It’s not as bad as it was, but there’s not been a significant change,” said Walter Johnson, 23, a tech school student and Army Reservist looking for a full-time job Wednesday at a Norcross job fair. “It’s not too hard to get jobs, but obviously it depends on your experience.”
The fair for military veterans and others, sponsored by the labor department and the Norcross Cooperative Ministry, was lightly attended, perhaps another indication of the economy’s growing strength. Representatives of local police and fire departments, temp agencies, an armored car company and a heavy-machine manufacturer at times outnumbered job seekers.
“There’s more consumer confidence, lower fuel prices and still-low interest rates so, in the minds of consumers, it’s a safe environment to be out there spending money,” said Adam Coker, managing director for U.S. Trust in Atlanta, the private wealth management arm of Bank of America. “And if consumers are spending, businesses have more revenue and they’ll be able to justify more employment.”
A close read of the employment tea leaves shows that a growing economy may have surmounted small- and medium-sized employers’ fears of the Affordable Care Act. Obamacare mandates that a company employing more than 50 full-time workers must offer health insurance or pay a penalty. Some business owners relied on temp workers or part-time workers the last few years to stay below the 50-employee threshold.
Last month, though, temp jobs dipped, both in Georgia and across the country. There were 5,000 fewer administrative and waste management jobs — which rely heavily on temp workers — in Georgia in January than in December, the labor department reported. Year-over-year, though, the industry added 7,800 jobs.
“We’ll need more information to determine whether the jobs were just eliminated or replaced by permanent positions,” Coker said. “But the underlying strength of the U.S. economy, and how we’re doing regionally, is probably beginning to weigh more heavily in the decisions that employers are making versus fears that we’ll slip back into recession or the Affordable Care Act is something they can’t afford.”
An improving economy also encourages already employed workers to look for better jobs. Annemarie Barrett 22, works on contract for a Gwinnett County roofing company. She was hired two weeks. Thursday, she attended the job fair looking for a new job with better hours and pay.
“People my age have plenty of opportunity whether it’s in fast food, customer service or grocery stores,” said Barrett. “Based on all the hiring websites and job fairs, there are positions available here in Georgia. Things are looking up.”
