State gains jobs, but jobless rate still rises

Growth in jobs offset by continued increase in unemployment rate.

Georgia added 20,200 jobs in September, but the jobless rate rose to 6.4% from 5.7% in August as job-seekers outpaced hiring.

Georgia added 20,200 jobs in September, healthy growth in normal times but not enough to offset the layoffs that continue to plague the pandemic- burdened economy.

The state’s unemployment rate rose from 5.7% in August to 6.4% last month as the number of job- seekers outpaced hiring.

Still, the economy is moving in the right direction, said Mark Butler, the state’s labor commissioner. “Over the past fifive months, 340,900 jobs have been gained back from the massive job loss we saw in April.”

Despite that rebound, the state had about 190,700 fewer jobs in September than in February.

Moreover, Georgia’s growth has been uneven, according to

data tracked by Harvard University researchers. The number of jobs in the state paying more than $ 60,000 has grown by 3.3% since the start of the year, while the number of jobs paying less than $ 27,000 has dropped 14.8%.

Much of the current hiring is part of a surge in seasonal jobs. For instance, Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s announced this week that they are adding about 150 workers in metro Atlanta.

Nationally, there were about 1.3 million new jobless claims lastweek, including about 373,000 for pandemic assistance available to self- employed and gig workers.

In Georgia, the Department of Labor processed 54,166 new claims for unemployment benefits lastweek.

The government’s online job board has about 175,000

job listings.

Glassdoor, which lists jobs and analyzes the economy, has seen similar trends, according to Andrew Chamberlain, the

company’s chief economist.

Current layoffs don’t even show up in the unemployment numbers for weeks or months, he said via email Thursday. “America

is unlikely to see a full economic recovery and a return to low-unemployment until the pace of weekly ( jobless) claims dials back dramatically.”

COURTESY PHOTO Themost consistent growth in the economy has been e- commerce, as Georgians increasingly hit the internet to order.