GA economy adds 36k jobs in 1 month (Atlanta, Butler: real estate, 2014)

[DaBurgh]

and unemployment down to 8.7%.

Georgia unemployment rate drops to 8.7 percent - CBS News


ATLANTA — Georgia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 8.7 percent in October, down from 9 percent in September, state labor officials said. That compares to a jobless rate of 9.7 percent a year ago, according to new figures announced early Thursday by the Georgia Department of Labor.

A total of 36,000 new jobs were added, the largest September-to-October job increase ever, Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said.

The job growth pushed the number of jobs in October to the highest level in any month since December 2008, he said.

The state's labor force also continued to increase, climbing to 4.79 million in October. That represents a gain of 17,438 workers since September.


Pretty good news! The impressive part is we added roughly 17k workers to the labor force, and the rate still went down. Hopefully it continues despite the problems with uncertainty at the national level.

[Newsboy]

Who would have ever thought that an unemployment rate of 8.7 percent is something worth cheering about?

[testa50]

Yeah, definitely a good labor report for the state. For the metro it was a bit less positive (it was our fourth-best Sept-Oct jump ever, and high-wage sectors didn't account for that big of a portion of the jobs), but still a solid report.

Nothing like January's report, when it was revealed that instead of Atlanta losing ~20,000 jobs over the last year, it actually added 35,000. That was probably the best report ever, and among the best reports you could possibly have. I literally couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it.

[midtown mile girl]

There was a similar article in todays AJC, and a lot of those jobs are low wage. So, yes getting jobs is great, but the pay is a lot less.

[researchnerd]

Baby steps...

I wonder if it's like losing weight -- where it works better if you do it gradually. Perhaps a slow recovery is more sustainable over the long term?

[emcee squared]

Originally Posted by researchnerd

Baby steps...

I wonder if it's like losing weight -- where it works better if you do it gradually. Perhaps a slow recovery is more sustainable over the long term?

Perhaps.

When I read your comment I immediately thought of growth patterns. Fast vs. slow.

In the near-term growth is cool, but slow and consistent growth is by far better.

I'd rather have a steady improvement in good paying jobs, than a sudden, massive increase in low paying jobs.

[DaBurgh]

Originally Posted by midtown mile girl

There was a similar article in todays AJC, and a lot of those jobs are low wage. So, yes getting jobs is great, but the pay is a lot less.

is there a link that article?


What caught my eye about this job growth is it's the highest monthly job growth since 2008, according to the article.

[FromGA]

Huge north fulton houses (think 3000 sq ft) in the best school districts (top 5 in the state) are still selling well under 300K. Priced more like 250K if you want it to sell.

Dhawan and other Georgia economists are predicting dismal 2013 for metro Atlanta, and better 2014. I have seen this kind of prediction of "better time 18 months down the line" for the last 3 years or so now.

I wonder if there is a re-set in Atlanta / Georgia's economy, towards a blue/green collar industry. Than the so-called, coveted white collar industry that Atlanta could get a "capital of the south east".

Testa50 is usually able to provide breakdowns. I wonder if he can provide any insight.

[AcidSnake]

Less pay is the new normal. We are competing with the whole world now. And most of that world isn't unionized or have any significant labor rights laws.

Originally Posted by midtown mile girl

There was a similar article in todays AJC, and a lot of those jobs are low wage. So, yes getting jobs is great, but the pay is a lot less.

[testa50]

I'm a bit surprised by the idea that jobs these days are in lower-wage sectors than they used to be. The hard evidence is exactly the opposite. The professional and business services sector has performed very well during the recession. We actually have more jobs in that sector now than ever in the past. Education and health has also added lots of jobs, and those are typically not low-wage jobs. These two sectors are by far the best-performing sectors in Atlanta over the last five years.

The sectors that have really taken it on the chin are manufacturing (lowish wage), construction (low wage), finance (medium wage, includes things like branch banking and real estate agents), and government (medium wage).

The big standout among lower wage jobs has been retail. But the trade sector as a whole (which comprises a lot of mainly blue-collar jobs) is still off its 2007 levels by ~20,000 jobs.

If you look at the makeup of the unemployed population, it's a younger and less-white group than the employed population. This also points to the idea that lower-wage sectors have been slower to recover than higher-wage sectors. This particular labor report had a lot of retail job growth due to the holiday shopping season beginning.