Metro Atlanta job change in June, last 10 years:
2006 1,200
2007 -6,200
2008 -15,100
2009 -18,700
2010 -9,000
2011 -11,400
2012 -2,500
2013 -1,500
2014 -1,600
2015 4,300
2016 -5,200
Source: Georgia Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Number of unemployed in metro Atlanta during June:
2007, 126,262
2008, 170,954
2009, 288,096
2010, 278,794
2011, 288,293
2012, 258,629
2013, 237,734
2014, 203,156
2015, 169,168
2016, 154,628
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Georgia Department of Labor
The metro Atlanta unemployment rate jumped from 4.5 percent in May to 5.3 percent in June, as seasonal layoffs and school graduations swelled the labor force with job-seekers, the government reported today.
The number of unemployed rose by 23,425, according to the Georgia Labor Department.
In most ways it was a typical June, only a little worse. In every one of the past 20 Junes, the Atlanta unemployment rate has gone up. Job growth is generally weak as summer starts. Since 2002, the metro Atlanta economy has added jobs in June just twice: in 2006 and 2015.
Roughly 5,200 jobs were lost during the month, weaker than the previous four years.
But in the past year, metro Atlanta has added 69,400 jobs.
“We are bullish on the Atlanta economy,” said Allison Dukes, president of the Atlanta division at SunTrust Bank, which loans money to growing companies and handles deposits for many start-ups.
“I see the economy continuing to grow at a nice heathy pace. I see balanced growth, which is what we want. It is not concentrated in one sector. It is not dependent on government.”
Leaders in metro Atlanta’s expansion are information technology, life sciences and the burgeoning film industry.
“All those industries have a trickle-down effect for the rest of the economy,” Dukes said.
The metro economy now has more people working and more jobs than before the recession began in late 2007. The number of unemployed has fallen dramatically since the worst of the recession, but has still not fallen to its pre-recession level.
About 155,000 people in the region are officially unemployed, which does not count those who have gone back to school or given up looking for a job.
The jobless rate for Atlanta in May was originally reported as 4.6 percent. However, it was revised downward, making May look better and the June rise look worse.
The sectors with the most layoffs during the month were educational and health services, as well as state and local government, including the public schools.
Meanwhile, the labor force — which includes those working or seeking work — grew up by 34,136.
The statewide jobless rate is 5.1 percent.But the state rate is adjusted to account for the seasonal pattern and the metro rate is not.
That means that swelling number of jobseekers is discounted in the state figures, but not in the metro data. The state jobless rate usually does not rise in June.
U.S. unemployment is at 4.9 percent.
Despite the month’s rising rate for the metro area, it’s important to note that a year ago, the region’s jobless rate was 6.0 percent, said Sam Hall, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Labor. “That is really the more telling number.”
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