Georgia job growth in July
Jobs added or lost
2007 … -2,000
2008 … -14,300
2009 … -20,100
2010 … 3,400
2011 … 6,500
2012 … -5,200
2013 … 7,000
2014 … 17,300
2015 … 5,800
2016 … 2,300
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Georgia unemployment rate, July
Percent of labor force looking for work
2007 … 4.6
2008 … 6.3
2009 … 10.3
2010 … 10.2
2011 … 10.1
2012 … 8.9
2013 … 8.0
2014 … 7.1
2015 … 5.7
2016 … 5.0
Sources: Georgia Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Georgia's unemployment rate edged down to 5.0 percent in July from 5.1 percent in June, the state labor department said Thursday.
The economy added a modest 2,300 jobs during the month.
While the state economy has been growing faster than the nation's, July's numbers were not as robust as the national report for the month which showed very strong hiring – an addition of 255,000 jobs.
It's only one month and the data can be erratic, especially since July's number reflect the spring's injection of new graduates and laid-off school workers into the labor force. The Labor Department does massage the data in an attempt to account for those seasonal patterns.
With all that in mind, economists often suggest caution about drawing conclusions without at least several months of data.
"It is not about the number," said Rajeev Dhawan, director of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University. "But what is the direction? That is the key. What is the momentum?"
And Georgia’s longer term trend has been solidly positive, albeit a little slower than two years ago. Over the last 12 months, Georgia has added 116,200 jobs.
The number of unemployed Georgians fell to 242,900 – the lowest level since the fall of 2007. Still, that doesn’t count anyone who is not actively looking for work. And the labor force – that is, the total those working and looking for jobs – is still lower than it was eight years ago.
Many of the people who have dropped out of the labor force have retired, although the overall percentage of older people working has increased.
And if older workers lose jobs, they tend to have a harder time than younger people finding another.
Here’s what is going on:
— The Georgia unemployment rate has come down from 5.3 percent in July of last year – mostly on the strength of job creation. At its post-recession worst, the Georgia jobless rate was 10.5 percent. Before the recession it was under 5.0 percent.
— Georgia's rate is just slightly higher than the national rate of 4.9 percent. It has been higher than the national average nearly every month since the economy slipped into recession in late 2007.
— Despite the improvement, there are still 242,900 Georgians looking for work in a workforce of nearly 4.9 million people. That is the lowest number since late 2007 before the recession began. But anyone not actively looking for work is not officially counted as unemployed.
— It was a weaker than average July for job growth, at least compared to the three previous years. From June to July, the number of jobs in the state grew 2,300. The average July during the previous three years saw growth of 10,000 jobs.
— Employers laid off more people. There were 31 percent more new claims for unemployment insurance in July than in June, a total of 35,639. That was slightly more than a year ago. More than one-third of July’s claims were because of temporary layoffs.
— Job losses came in local government, mostly in the local public schools which were on summer break.
— Sectors adding employees included health care and social assistance, 4,500, along with manufacturing and trade, transportation and warehousing, 2,500 each.
Some of the most robust hiring is being done in call centers, which is counted as growth in the professional and business services sector.
For example, Hire Dynamics, a Duluth-based staffing company, plans to place 1,000 people in a Chime Solutions call center in the Southlake Mall. Chime, which is also based in Morrow, offers its services to a range of companies.
Despite the low unemployment rate, it will not be hard to find qualified applicants for the Chime jobs, said Larry Feinstein, CEO of Hire Dynamics.
Call center expansion reflects the strength of consumer spending and that is good news for the number of jobs but it raises doubts about incomes, said Dhawan of the Economic Forecasting Center, which holds its quarterly conference next week.
“It is positive that there is growth in service related industries, including call centers,” he said. “But are they quality jobs that can afford the high-rises and condos that are being built?”
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