In a stronger than average showing, the metro Atlanta economy added 14,200 jobs last month, but it wasn’t fast enough hiring to soak up all the new graduates, the Georgia Department of Labor said Thursday.
The region’s unemployment rate climbed to 3.9% from 3.4% in May.
“Every summer, our students and seasonal workers inject our workforce with a fresh wave of talent and energy,” said Bruce Thompson, the state commissioner of labor. “Although this may lead to a temporary rise in unemployment … Georgia’s on the right track toward creating more jobs.”
Metro Atlanta accounted for the lion’s share of growth in the state in June.
But just like the rest of the state, the growth was unbalanced, according to the Labor Department. Growth was solid in hotels and food services, entertainment and recreation, health care and social assistance and logistics, like trucking and warehousing.
But as summer started and schools let out, jobs were lost in local and state governments as well as the private educational services that cater to students.
Despite the strong June, viewing the economy through a longer lens shows the region decelerating under the weight of high interest rates that make borrowing more costly for car loans, mortgages, credit cards and home equity lines of credit.
In the past 12 months, metro Atlanta has added 37,000 jobs — compared to 72,800 in the 12 previous months and 159,600 jobs in the comparable 12 months before that.
Still, June was the first month this year in which metro Atlanta job growth exceeded its pre-pandemic average and the first month in which the year’s growth was positive. Historically, the economy loses nearly 50,000 in January when retailers and logistics companies lay off holiday workers and then spends several months catching up.
Counting the typically dismal start to the year, the region has added just 2,000 jobs in the first half of 2024.
Even so, the metro Atlanta jobless rate has been below 4% for 35 consecutive months and it has been lower than the national average since January 2020. The Atlanta rate has not been higher than the U.S. rate since August 2019.
The national unemployment rate was 4.1% in June, while Georgia’s overall unemployment rate also rose in June, from 3.2% to 3.3%.
While much of the economy continues to do well and inflation has plunged, the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates high for more than a year, which has undercut sales in the housing market and made building new homes more challenging, too, said Mark Vitner, chief economist for Piedmont Crescent Capital, a business consultancy.
That hurts more than housing sales, he said. “Things tied to the housing market have been slow. It’s been a weight on sales at places like Home Depot, Floor & Décor, various flooring companies.”
Both Home Depot and Floor & Décor are based in metro Atlanta.
But there are those who profit from that. People who stay in their homes are more likely to spend money on repairs and renovations.
RAFTR Roofing + Exteriors aimed to bulk up its headquarters, said Chris Doyle, chief marketing officer of the Duluth-based company.
The company is looking for up to 15 marketing, finance and operations people, white-collar jobs that he hopes to fill with local people, he said. “The labor market has been tight. It’s always hard to find talent, but it is there.”
And RAFTR is also corporate parent to several roofing companies, including Perimeter Roofing of Lawrenceville, a roughly 80-worker company that repairs and restores roofs. The economy is something of a mixed message, but there’s ample demand for Perimeter’s services, Doyle said.
“We expect to grow considerably,” he said. “Any time you are trying to find highly qualified people, it’s always a challenge. But in Atlanta, there’s a huge pool of talented construction workers.”
The region has about 147,000 construction workers, about 16,000 more than before the pandemic.
The metro Atlanta labor market
Metro Atlanta jobs in June
Worst, pre-pandemic: down 18,100 (2009)
Best, pre-pandemic: up 23,100 (1996)
Average, pre-pandemic: up 3,800
Recent: up 14,200 (June 2024)
Metro Atlanta, unemployment rate, June
Worst, pre-pandemic: 11.1% (2009)
Best, pre-pandemic: 3.2% (1999)
Average, pre-pandemic: 5.9%
Change from May: up 0.5 percentage points
Average change from May: up 0.5 percentage points
Recent: 3.9% (June 2024)
Jobs added metro Atlanta, previous 12 months in June
June 2022: 159,000
June 2023: 72,800
June 2024: 37,000
Sources: Georgia Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
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