The pain of unemployment spreads far and wide across metro Atlanta, with 9.7 percent of workers in the area now sidelined, looking for jobs. But the anguish is felt more deeply in some counties than in others, new unemployment figures show.
In Clayton County, battered by the demise of its aging, overbuilt retail sector, the unemployment rate in May hit 12.0 percent, easily the worst in the metro area. Officials there chalked up many of the job losses to store closings.
By contrast, Forsyth County registered the lowest unemployment rate in the metro area last month, 7.4 percent, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.
Forsyth has grown rapidly in recent years, attracting affluent professionals including many transplants to Georgia with its newer, high quality housing and related development. More than 40 percent of its workers are in the managerial and professional sector -- one of the highest percentages of any metro county.
Unemployment rates are based on where workers live, not where they work.
In fact, the counties with relatively low unemployment rates often are predominantly residential communities, such as Forsyth or Fayette, whose rates are 8.1 percent. Many of their residents commute to jobs in the more urban counties -- whose own residents may struggle to find work, labor and economic development officials said.
That's true in metro Atlanta, where, in May, Fulton and DeKalb each had at 10.1 percent unemployment. Cobb and Gwinnett recorded rates of 9.2 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively.
"In almost any metro area you'll find that the inner part will have higher unemployment rates than the counties on the outer rim like the bedroom communities," said Sam Hall, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Labor.
Clayton County resident April Parker, 42, worked as a decorator for 11 years before she became unemployed in 2009. Since then the Forest Park resident has lived on food stamps and help from her family, she said.
Last year she learned of a training program funded by the Workforce Investment Act, which allowed her to go to school this past winter to become a patient care technician.
Even though she'll have credentials in a growing industry, she admits she’s nervous about her job prospects.
“To be honest, there’s a little piece of me with a little worry, but I feel good about my training,” she said. “Once I get out there with my resume, I feel I’m going to have a good chance.”
Across metro Atlanta, disparities in unemployment rates track with certain socioeconomic characteristics, U.S. Census data suggest. Counties whose residents have more education and higher incomes tend to have lower unemployment rates.
For example, 31.4 percent of Forsyth County residents have a bachelor’s degree, while12.5 percent of Clayton County residents do, according to data from the 2005-2009 American Community Survey. (The figures do not include residents with higher degrees.) Forsyth’s median household income is $88,040, while Clayton's is just half of that at $44,308.
But even those with advanced degrees aren't automatically immune from the economic downturn. Torrance Stephens, who has served on the faculties of Emory and Clark Atlanta Universities, has been unable to find full-time employment during the recession, he said. Nevermind that Stephens, who lives in Palmetto in south Fulton County, has a doctorate.
"Over the past 3 years I have applied to more than 60 positions in academia, the private sector, government and public health. I have had four interviews and was down the the last two each time, but did not obtain the job," he said. "I am nonplussed, but not beaten."
Like job seekers, the places where they live must often seek to retool themselves to improve their economic prospects. Grant Wainscott, director of economic development for Clayton County, said the county has had to take a hard look at which baskets its eggs were in.
"We have for some time been reliant upon the service sector, which in some cases has taken a beating," he said.
In pursuit of a brighter future, he said, Clayton is focusing redevelopment efforts on other natural areas of strength, including warehousing, distribution and logistics.
Cobb County Commission Chairman Tim Lee said Cobb’s economic development team and the Chamber of Commerce are working to attract new businesses to the county, while offering training so the unemployed can learn new skills. But he said there's a limit to what local communities can do.
“We’re always hopeful that it is getting better, and we’re working to make it better," he said, "but the economy has got to improve a little bit more, too.”
The preliminary unemployment rate for metro Atlanta increased to 9.7 percent in May, up one-tenth of a percentage point from a revised 9.6 percent in April. The April rate initially was reported at a preliminary 9.7 percent. The jobless rate for the metro area in May one year ago was 9.8 percent.
Labor officials cited two reasons for the increase.
First, more than 21,000 new job seekers entered the labor force looking for work. About 15,000 of them found a job, but about 6,000 did not.
Second, Atlanta had a net loss of 900 jobs. The area added 1,100 jobs in manufacturing and construction, but lost 2,000 service-related jobs.
Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.8 percent from April to May. The April rate was first reported at a preliminary 9.9 percent, but was revised. The state’s jobless rate was 10 percent in May a year ago.
May marked the 46th consecutive month Georgia has exceeded the national unemployment rate, which is currently 9.1 percent, up from 9.0 percent in April.
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