Metro jobless rate rises; hiring stalls

Long-term growth in technology jobs continues; logistics led December growth, Labor report says.

The metro Atlanta unemployment rate rose to 5.0 percent in December, from 4.8 percent in November, as jobseekers flowed into the market but hiring was anemic.

The last month of the year is not typically a strong time for hiring and this December was true to form: job growth was basically flat, with a loss of about 100 positions, the state Labor Department reported Thursday.

The strongest growth sector during the month was logistics — the jobs that handle, move and deliver holiday packages — while government and information also added jobs.

Atlanta also continues to see long-term growth in its tech sector.

For example, Atlanta-based Radiance Solar has added seven employees in the past year, according to James Marlow, company chief executive.

The company which designs, builds and services solar “arrays,” now has 42 employees.

Among other sectors, trade, transportation and warehousing, logistics grew by 6,700 jobs; federal and local government added 1,600 jobs; and information grew by 800.

However, other sectors — especially construction and manufacturing — usually endure layoffs around the end of the year. That was the case this time, too.

A year ago, the jobless rate for the region had fallen to 4.8 percent and since then it has wavered between that level and a high of 5.3 percent. But the rate can be an undependable guide and its relative lack of improvement does not mean that the labor market has stagnated.

The rate is based on the number of people in the workforce — those who either have jobs or are looking for work. And during the past year, more than 100,000 people entered the metro labor force looking for work. Some had lost old jobs, while others were coming off the sidelines out of optimism about the improving economy.

Most found jobs, but the higher number in the labor force kept the jobless rate from improving, or even sent it higher.

In December, the labor force grew by nearly 21,000 people.

The mix of new jobseekers

and weak hiring left about 148,000 people out of work and looking for a job. That was 10,000 more than a year earlier.

That number doesn’t include those who have retired early or given up looking. But nearly onethird of the unemployed — more than 45,000 people — have been searching for six months or more.

Many new jobs are in fields, such as hotel and restaurant work, that typically do not pay very well. The data indicate many people are getting part-time work or working more than one job.

Despite the lackluster finish to the year, the Atlanta economy added about 70,800 jobs during 2016. That year-end result:

■ was almost exactly as strong as the year before.

■ accounts for most of the job growth in the state.

■ brought the total number of jobs in the region to more than 2.7 million.

■ gave Atlanta a faster pace of growth than the nation as a whole.

Yet the unemployment rate in metro Atlanta continues to hover above that of the nation. The jobless rate for the United States is 4.7 percent. The jobless rate for the state of Georgia is 5.4 percent. The state’s rate is massaged somewhat to account for seasonal patterns. The metro Atlanta rate is not adjusted that way, so in some ways, it is a clearer picture of what has actually happened. But this was the first December in which jobs were lost since 2012.