Jobs added in metro Atlanta, first 9 mos:
2012: 10,300
2013: 31,400
2014: 49,300
2015: 18,500
2016: 23,600
Jobs added or lost in September alone
2012: -7,300
2013: -500
2014: -5,800
2015: -4,200
2016: 0.0
September unemployment rate
2012: 8.3
2013: 7.5
2014: 6.6
2015: 5.3
2016: 5.0
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Georgia Department of Labor
The metro Atlanta unemployment rate held steady at 5.0 percent in September, matching the national rate for the month, the government reported Thursday.
There were 18,087 more people with jobs last month, but nearly 21,000 people came into the 2.9 million-person labor force. It was a statistical wash that left the jobless rate flat.
It also left more than 148,000 people officially unemployed – out of work and looking for a job – a sign of how, more than six years after the economy began recovering from recession, the labor market is still getting back to normal.
And normal is looking better, according to the underlying signs.
Most important, a separate survey that tracks payroll jobs shows Atlanta hiring had its best September job growth in 10 years. For nine years in a row, metro Atlanta has lost jobs in September, but not last month.
The past three Septembers, the economy lost an average of 3,700 positions. This time, the number was unchanged from August.
"That is actually good new for this time of year," said Mark Butler, the state's labor commissioner.
So far this year, the metro Atlanta economy has added 23,600 jobs – faster growth than last year, although not as fast as in 2013 and 2014.
Overall, since the worst of the post-recession hiring drought, the Atlanta economy has added about 432,000 jobs.
Steady job growth has meant a falling unemployment rate.
The rate these past two months is at the level previously hit in April 2008, when the recession was still young. After that, the rate more than doubled before starting to slip in 2010.
A year ago, the metro Atlanta unemployment rate was 5.3 percent.
While the pace of improvement has seemed slow, the jobless rate has fallen slowly partly because the hiring has apparently convinced many discouraged people to come off the sidelines and start looking for work again.
During the past 12 months, the labor force has grown by 118,021.
“We continue to see Atlanta’s labor force increase,” Butler said. “That is very good news.”
As a share of working-age adults, the proportion actually in the labor force has increased, although it is still lower than during the boom days.
Last week, the Labor Department announced an increase in the state's jobless rate – from 4.9 percent to 5.1 percent. However, the state's rate is massaged somewhat to account for seasonal patterns. The metro Atlanta rate is not adjusted that way.
Economists often stress that one month’s data can be unreliable, so the more important question is about the longer arc of the economy. That longer trend has been positive – an additional 74,800 jobs in the past 12 months.
The new jobs have been a mix. High-wage jobs in technology and corporate management have grown, but much of the hiring has also been in low-wage service jobs. Overall, though, the expansion has been broad, if not spectacular.
Among the sectors that have been growing:
— professional and business services, (the corporate sector) up 15,900
— trade, transportation and warehousing, (logistics), up 15,200
— leisure and hospitality, up 12,800
— government (mostly in public schools), up 8,800
— education and health services (which is mostly healthcare), up 8,400
— construction, up 7,300
— financial activities, up 5,500
— manufacturing, up 2,900
The state labor department offers an online job listings. That list included 52,000 new job postings during September, said Butler.
