Not since the run-up to the 1996 Summer Olympic Games has Georgia created more jobs in one year, the Labor Department reported Thursday while announcing that the state’s jobless rate dipped to 6.3 percent in February.
Virtually all job trends are up these days: the unemployment rate is the lowest since 2008; employers in every job category — manufacturing, health care, business services — are hiring; and new claims for unemployment insurance dropped substantially last month.
“It’s confirmation of the strength of Georgia’s economic recovery,” University of Georgia economist Jeff Humphreys said. “It’s a very durable, long-term recovery.”
The comparison with the robust days of 1996 isn’t completely apt, however. The state had about 3 million fewer residents then, the jobless rate was 4.6 percent and wages were pushing higher.
Now, while Georgia added 157,400 jobs in the 12 months through February, the state’s jobless rate remains well above the national number of 5.5 percent.
Tens of thousands of Georgians continue to sit on the job-search sidelines, unconvinced that decent, long-term jobs are available. And wages, which typically rise as unemployment falls, are barely moving.
Yolanda Neal hasn’t had a raise in two years. The Burger King cook in Atlanta makes $8 an hour and, if she’s lucky, gets 30 hours a week of work. Without a car, Neal can’t reach the restaurant jobs outside the Perimeter that, typically, pay better because managers have a harder time finding employees.
“We need at least $10, $11 an hour. I’m just working to pay my bills. I’ve got nothing left for myself,” said Neal, 37. “I’m robbing Peter to pay Paul. It’s frustrating, especially considering I’ve got 20 years of experience in this field.”
The February jobless was down only slightly from 6.4 percent in January. The growth in jobs over the past year left the state just 100,000 jobs shy of pre-recession employment levels. At one point it had lost a half-million jobs.
Credit for the nearly 4 percent rate of job growth the last year runs deep and wide. Roughly 37,000 truck drivers and warehousemen found work. Nearly 30,000 waiters and front-desk clerks got jobs. Lawyers, accountants and photographers notched a similar number of new jobs, according to Labor Department statistics.
February marked the eighth straight month of job creation. A year ago, the state’s unemployment rate stood at 7.3 percent.
“We’ve had a tremendous amount of job growth in 12 months,” said labor commissioner Mark Butler. “That’s something we’ve been waiting on for a long time now.”
Between July 1995 and July 1996, Georgia created more than 200,000 jobs as the state readied for the Olympics with new buildings, restaurants and sidewalk vendors. Metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate was a tight 4 percent.
Although the federal minimum wage stood at $4.25 an hour, many Atlanta employers were forced to double, even triple salaries to get help. Free MARTA cards and uniforms, and end-of-Olympics bonuses of $200 or more, were offered during the labor shortage.
Labor’s advantage didn’t disappear after the Olympic flame was extinguished, though wages returned to more normal levels. The unemployment rate stayed low for months to come.
“The Olympics were just the icing on the cake,” said economist Humphreys. “The economy was fundamentally strong because the business cycle was very strong. Plus, we had the high-tech boom.”
Georgia counted about 7 million residents during the Olympics — there are 10 million today — offering a bit of perspective on the past year’s jobs gain. Humphreys says the state’s relatively high unemployment, post-recession, has kept wages in check.
But that may be about to change.
Alexis and Scott Kinsey own five Taqueria Tsunami restaurants in Georgia and Kentucky. Finding experienced kitchen help at the Athens restaurant, which opened last year, proved challenging. So, kitchen manager candidates were offered an extra buck an hour.
“We did have to look at what we were paying and increase what we were offering to be competitive,” Alexis Kinsey said.
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