Metro Atlanta unemployment up in September

The numbers for September are preliminary and have not been adjusted for other factors, the DOL said.

The jobless figures have continued to climb steadily. In September 2008, the unemployment rate was 6.7 percent.

Since that time the number of so-called payroll jobs in metro Atlanta has fallen by 5.9 percent, the labor department said. There are 2.27 million payroll jobs in the metro area compared to 2.41 million in September 2008.

Metro Atlanta has been losing jobs more quickly than the rest of the state, figures from the labor department show. The number of payroll jobs in Georgia in September was 3.84 million, down 5.8 percent from the 4.08 million payroll jobs in September a year ago.

The areas of education and health services were two areas that bucked the jobless trend, the DOL said. Those sectors have added a combined 13,700 jobs since September a year ago.

Georgia's unemployment rate for September was 10.1 percent, unchanged from August, the DOL said last week.

It was the 23rd consecutive month that Georgia's unemployment rate was above the national rate, which was 9.8 percent, the agency said.

The number receiving state unemployment benefits jumped 58.8 percent to 139,000, from 88,121 in September 2008, the agency said. Another 150,000 received extended unemployment benefits from the federal government, the labor department said.

Meanwhile, Forbes magazine recently said the city tops those that are "recession proof" for retirees.

The city ranks 17th in the number of sunny days, 11th in cost of living and seventh in median home price, which Forbes lists as $118,000.

And, Moody's says the job market is expected to grow by 13.5 percent over the next five years, which would make it easier for retirees to go back to work if they had to.