More people leave work force

One is Jon Walker, a Roswell software sales executive who searched from May through October only to conclude that he was “one in a million” people chasing the same jobs.

“I got fed up. I got frustrated. I just gave up,” he said.

He’s hardly alone. “Because of the lack of jobs, people have become discouraged and dropped out of looking for a job,” said Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond.

Economists say the crucial number in assessing unemployment is the number of jobs added to the economy. Friday’s news did hold some promise in that regard. The nation’s economy added 103,000 jobs in December, an improvement from November’s 71,000. On the other hand, December's results were disappointing compared to what many economists had forecast, based on other recent economic data.

“It’s about what we expected,” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told members of the Senate Budget Committee Friday. “If we continue at this pace we’re not going to see sustained declines in the unemployment rate.”

Looking farther ahead, 27 economists surveyed by CNNMoney predicted much stronger hiring ahead. On average, they forecast that 2.3 million jobs will be added nationally in 2011, or just under 200,000 a month. That's about the level required to create a lasting downward trend in the nation's jobless rate, many experts agree.

December unemployment data has not yet been released for Georgia and metro Atlanta; in November they reported 10.1 percent and 10.3 percent unemployment, respectively.

More than half the state’s jobless workers have been looking for work for more than six months. Long-term unemployment has brought many job-seekers’ spirits to a new low, Thurmond said. At fault, he said, is a historic restructuring in the country’s labor market, which means that many of the jobless have skills that are not in high demand. And the jobs that are available require skills that many of the unemployed don’t possess.

Just ask Walker, who left his previous job when the company shifted toward more commission sales. Confident that he had a sterling resume, he started firing away -- and got far fewer responses than he expected.

He held off applying for unemployment benefits, not wanting to "raise my hand to the government." When he did apply in September, he was informed he did not qualify because he left his job of his own accord.

His savings started spilling away, as his family shifted into a state a mind he calls survival mode. His wife was recovering from breast cancer, and the notion of taking the family out to dinner, or on vacation, or even to a ball game "went out the window."

Meanwhile, the job interviews made him feel like he was on an assembly line. Interviewers would tell the 45-year-old, "It's nice to meet you face-too-face. If our budget supports your salary, we'll contact you. In the meantime we'll keep your resume on file for two years." It all seemed so scripted and meaningless.

He knew that some internet job postings were false leads; that there was no real job opening behind them. But he just couldn't believe how many there were.

By December, he was awash in feelings of self-doubt and failure. He didn't know if he was over the hill, or overqualified, or both. He was spending hours on Facebook, looking up old friends and seeking words of encouragement from them. He was also spending time on the phone negotiating with bill collectors and utility companies wanting to get paid. The family's debts were mounting.

Eric Handler, an executive recruiter for Handler and Associates in Atlanta, counsels many people in situations such as Walker's. His best advice is to "focus on the tasks of the day ahead," he said. "I tell them, ‘You are going to get a job. You just need to stay focused, and do your part.' "

Jessica Bair, for one, decided to return to the job hunt after a few months of inactivity. In the time that she wasn't looking for permanent employment, the 27-year-old public relations specialist sustained herself with temporary jobs around town, filing papers one day and planning the calendar for a boss the next. Friday she had a job interview as a recruiter for the very temp agency that was placing her.

"I got the job, and I start Monday," she said Friday evening. "I signed the paper on the dotted line."

Even Walker is emerging from his bout with the unemployment blues. He's encouraged by the Republican victories in the mid-term elections. He hopes companies, starting a new year with a fresh budget, will be more apt to hire him.

"I'm sending out resumes. I'm connecting with head-hunters. I'm doing cold-calling. I'm networking with friends," he said.

He sent out 25 resumes this week.