Metro Atlanta added 8,300 jobs last month, a weaker than usual August, as unemployment rose and economic growth continued to level off, the Georgia Department of Labor said Thursday.
The unemployment rate, which counts only those actively seeking work, rose to 4% from 3.8% in July.
While still a relatively low level, that increase came despite a large decrease in the number of people in the region’s labor force and it extends a trend, said Bruce Thompson, the state’s labor commissioner.
“With statewide unemployment on the rise over the past four months, it’s crucial that we strengthen our efforts to connect more Georgians with jobs (and) remove barriers to employment,” he said.
During August, hiring was strongest in government, health care and education, while end-of-the-summer cuts came in hospitality, entertainment and recreation.
A narrower range of sectors is growing, which makes it harder for some people to find work, according to Mark Vitner, economic consultant with Piedmont Crescent Capital.
“Hiring has clearly lost momentum,” he said.
But even if hiring had slowed, there was no sign of a widespread downturn. Initial jobless claims — seen as indicative of layoffs — actually dipped during the month, the Department of Labor said.
So, the data shows continued growth, but also the ongoing drag of higher interest rates that make borrowing more costly along with the lingering weight of the past year’s inflation.
Inflation peaked in mid-2022 and has been coming down since, at least partly because the Federal Reserve had aggressively lifted its benchmark interest rate, a move that made it more expensive to borrow money, carry credit card debt and buy homes or cars.
But in mid-August, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said inflation seemed under control, which meant the central bank could shift to worrying about the labor market — which was decelerating.
In September, the Fed cut rates by a half-point, a move seen as a first step toward much lower rates.
With rates in flux, growth slow and a high-stakes presidential election approaching, the economic picture is muddy, said Michael Watson, a wealth management adviser for Northwestern Mutual in Atlanta. “Right now, I’d say the financial landscape is pretty unpredictable. Many people are still feeling pretty cautious, but over the next few months, maybe we may see some normalization.”
Rate cuts would help many consumers, he said.
“I can just go off what we hear from Jerome Powell,” Watson said. “And that would be a good thing for access to credit, for buying a home, for getting a home-equity loan of credit, for debt consolidation.”
Not all uncertainties are tied to interest rates, said Chris Doyle, chief marketing officer at Atlanta-based RAFTR Roofing + Exteriors, which does both residential and commercial roofing.
There’s the weather, but also the global price of oil, which effects the costs of shingles, he said.
The 90-employee company is hiring, he said.
With rates coming down and likely to keep falling, the outlook is good, said Cal Evans, senior director for market intelligence at Synovus Financial Corp. “And the bulk of the growth in Georgia is always going to be in Atlanta.”
The last part of the calendar year often accounts for a large part of the job growth. In the decade pre-pandemic, those four months accounted for nearly six of 10 jobs added to the metro Atlanta economy.
Much of that hiring is for the holiday season, jobs that end after New Year’s, but many become permanent.
UPS, which has about a half-million employees, is hiring 125,000 workers for the holiday season, including about 6,500 in metro Atlanta, according to a spokesman for the Sandy Springs-based company.
Some of those people will stay with UPS after the holidays, he said.
Metro Atlanta jobs in August
Best, pre-pandemic: 26,200 (2014)
Worst, pre-pandemic: -34,200 (1996)
Average, pre-pandemic: 15,200
Recent: 8,300 (2024)
Metro Atlanta unemployment rate, August
Best, pre-pandemic: 3.1% (1999)
Worst, pre-pandemic: 11.0% (2009)
Average, pre-pandemic: 5.6%
Recent: 4.0% (2024)
Sources: Georgia Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
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