AUGUST IN ATLANTA
Jobless rates for the month in recent years:
2007: 4.6 percent
2008: 6.5
2009: 10.4
2010: 10.5
2011: 10.3
2012: 8.9
2013: 7.8
2014: 7.2
2015: 5.6
2016: 5.0
Sources: Georgia Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
AUGUST JOB GROWTH
Number added for the month, by year
2012: 17,800
2013: 22,700
2014: 26,100
2015: 15,400
2016: 14,500
Sources: Georgia Labor Department, Bureau of Statistics
The metro Atlanta unemployment rate edged down to 5.0 percent in August, dropping from 5.1 percent in July, the state labor department reported Thursday.
Nudging the rate down during the month was a combination of solid hiring and a drop in the number of people in the workforce, the department said. The result was the lowest jobless rate for Atlanta since December 2007, when the Great Recession started.
The metro report followed last week’s statewide report showing Georgia’s jobless rate at 4.9 percent, matching the nation’s after several years of being higher.
The metro Atlanta economy added 14,500 jobs in August, while nearly 25,000 people left the workforce, which includes people who have jobs or are seeking them.
The August job growth followed two months of job loss – a typical occurrence in summer as schools close, factories take time off and many executives put off hiring until after vacations.
The recession was deeper in metro Atlanta than in many regions, but since then the pace of growth has been faster. A year ago, the metro Atlanta unemployment rate was 5.6 percent. In the 12 months since, metro Atlanta has added 71,000 jobs – more than half the jobs added in Georgia.
"Atlanta has two advantages," said Jeff Korzenik, chief investment strategist for Fifth Third Bank. "For starters, you have in-migration, so you draw from a national labor pool."
The region also has more labor “slack,” that is, people who are not in the workforce but could be lured back to it by plentiful jobs and higher pay, he said. “That probably means there is more room to invest and to improve productivity.”
While the labor force shrank in August, the trend over the past year is up – good news for the 70 percent of the economy that depends on consumption, Korzenik said.
“The combination of new entrants into the labor force and higher wages is a very powerful driver of consumption in the economy.”
The state’s monthly rate is adjusted for seasonal patterns, while the metro Atlanta rate is not. That means the Atlanta report sometimes gives a sharper picture of the ebbs and flows of hiring.
"This is probably the tightest labor market we have seen," said Larry Feinstein, chief executive of Hire Dynamics, an Atlanta-based staffing agency which sends up to 6,000 people to jobs each week.
A number of skills – from technology to blue-collar labor – are in demand, he said. For example: “There are just not enough fork-lift drivers out there.”
An employer cannot take job candidates for granted, he said. “The shelf life of people is about 48 hours. If you want somebody, and don’t keep in touch, you can lose them.”
Job growth in August was led by government, namely schools. The sector added 9,800 jobs. Health services grew by 3,900, while the corporate sector expanded by 1,600, as did leisure and hospitality. The logistics sector added 1,200 positions.
There were also several shrinking sectors: Manufacturing fell by 2,000 positions, financial services lost 500 jobs and information services dipped by 200.
Layoffs were apparently lower than in July, as the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance fell 11.3 percent. But claims rose 2.7 percent from a year earlier.
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