The metro Atlanta unemployment rate slipped to 4.8 percent in November from 5.0 percent the month before, the government reported Thursday.
In general, it was a pretty good month for the job market. More people came into the market looking for work, more people got hired overall and the number of unemployed dropped, according to the state department of labor.
The pace of Atlanta’s job market has been consistently faster than that of the nation’s, said Andy Decker, Atlanta-based regional president of staffing company Robert Half, which places thousands of people in jobs around the region.
“It’s a really healthy job market in Atlanta right now,” he said.
Last week, the Labor Department announced an increase in the state’s jobless rate – from 5.2 percent to 5.3 percent. The state’s rate is massaged somewhat to account for seasonal patterns. The metro Atlanta rate is not adjusted that way, so in some ways, it is a clearer picture of what has actually happened.
The jobless rate for the United States is 4.6 percent, but the labor force nationally has grown much more slowly than that of Georgia. The U.S. work force has expanded in the past year by just 1.3 percent, while the metro Atlanta pool is up 3.9 percent, according to government data.
Some of that growth is comprised of previously discouraged workers, who now are returning to the job search. But many are likely new residents. The Census Bureau recently reported that Georgia is among the fastest growing populations and surveys by moving companies seem to bear that out.
“We see a mix” of newly-encouraged local workers and new residents, Decker said. “Penske has found that for six years in a row, Georgia is the number one state for people moving in.”
Unemployment rates for the metro area now hover at levels like those of 2007, before the start of the Great Recession. But they haven’t fallen far in recent months.
A year ago, the jobless rate for the region was 4.9 percent. Improvement in the rate has been slow since then because nearly 115,000 people have entered the labor force. Most of them found work.
But not all.
So that meant the unemployment rate hasn’t dropped dramatically, even if the overall chances of getting a job are getting better. During the 12 months, the job market in metro Atlanta has added 68,200 jobs while the number of initial claims for unemployment – a layoff indicator – were down 16.8 percent from a year ago.
During the month, employers added 19,200 jobs, slightly less than the average November growth for the previous five years.
“I feel like right after the election, a lot of people paused and took a breath,” Decker said. “But then after that, it seems that everything has gone back to business as usual.”
The hottest job skills are in technology and some financial analysis, Decker said.
But the holiday season also accounts for much of the recent surge.
The leading sector last month for job growth was trade, transportation and warehousing – mostly made up of logistics and retail work. It grew by 11,500. But among the other sectors that grew during the month, according to the labor department:
- The corporate sector, known as professional and business services, 3,000.
- Education and health services, which is mostly health care, expanded by 700.
- Government of all kinds added 1,600.
- Manufacturing rose by 1,200 jobs.
- Financial and other services expanded by 1,000.
- Leisure and hospitality – that is tourism, restaurants and entertainment – inched up 200 jobs.
The only sector with a loss during the month was construction, which was not a surprise as the weather turns cold. It was down 100 positions.
Since hitting rock bottom in early 2010, the metro Atlanta economy has added more than 475,000 jobs. The official jobless rate has fallen from a high of 10.6 percent. Yet the job market may not be quite as robust as the unemployment rate suggests.
Many of the jobs created are in fields like tourism that typically do not pay very well. And the data indicates that many people are getting part-time work or working more than one job.
Moreover, there are, the labor department said, about 142,000 people out of work and looking for a job. Nearly one-third of them – about 45,000 people – have been searching for six months or more. And those numbers do not include anyone who has retired early or just given up looking.
Metro Atlanta jobless rates, by county
Clayton ………….. 6.2 percent
Cobb …………….. 4.3 percent
DeKalb …………. 5.1 percent
Fulton …………… 5.0 percent
Gwinnett ……….. 4.5 percent
Source: Georgia Department of Labor
Metro Atlanta unemployment rate in November
Unemployment rate, in percent
2006 ……… 4.3
2007 ……… 4.4
2008 ……… 7.2
2009 ….… 10.3
2010 ……. 10.5
2011 ……… 9.1
2012 ……… 8.0
2013 ……… 6.9
2014 ……… 6.0
2015 ……… 4.9
2016 ……… 4.8
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Metro Atlanta jobs
Change, Jan. through Nov.
2008 …….. Down 75,600
2009 ……… Down 116,100
2010 ……………. Up 26,300
2011 …………….. Up 42,100
2012 …………….. Up 53,800
2013 ……………… Up 75,900
2014 ……………….Up 95,500
2015 ………………. Up 69,600
2016 ……………….Up 68,100
Source: Georgia Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
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