The unemployment rate in metro Atlanta fell in September although hiring coming out of the summer has been uneven, the Georgia Department of Labor said Thursday.
With 20,490 fewer metro area residents counted as unemployed in September, the jobless rate dropped to a historically low 3.4% from 4.0% in August. The September figure is slightly higher than a year ago, but well below long-term averages, according to Bruce Thompson, the state’s labor commissioner.
“This fall, unemployment rates are dropping all across Georgia,” he said in a statement. “More residents are finding work and contributing to our local economies.”
September is typically a month of transition, a pause that is prelude — at least in good years — to a hiring surge during the holiday season. Because in a growing economy, hiring in the year’s final months can be strong for retailers, distributors and logistics companies, as well as corporate offices filling out budget allowances before the year’s end.
Last year, from January to September, the metro economy shed 3,400 jobs, but in the final three months of the year, metro Atlanta gained 41,700 positions.
A separate survey is used to count the number of jobs each month, so that figure doesn’t always immediately blend with the unemployment number. Sometimes — as in this September — the unemployment rate improves even though the jobs number seems to be singing in a different key.
Over a couple months, the data tends to harmonize.
During September, the unemployment rate typically drops. Yet, the regional economy in September typically does not seem to be adding jobs. In the 10 years pre-pandemic, metro Atlanta averaged a loss of 3,420 jobs during the month and added jobs only in 2016.
At the same time, in only one September — 2008 — did the unemployment rate rise.
This year fit the pattern, though the job loss was minimal: This year during September, the 3.1 million job metro Atlanta economy was down slightly by 600 jobs.
Jobs were up in state government, health care, specialty trade contractors and corporate services. Jobs were down in other sectors, including tech and information, which includes the region’s film industry.
Economists say the patchy hiring is a sign the region’s momentum, like that of the state and national economies, has been hampered by higher interest rates. Only in mid-September did the Federal Reserve start to trim its benchmark rate and another meeting to consider further cuts won’t come until next month.
More than a year of high rates have taken a toll on the pace of growth.
Metro Atlanta has added 43,000 jobs in the past 12 months — almost exactly the same growth as in the 12 months prior. But in contrast, between September 2021 and September 2022, the metro Atlanta economy added 149,100 jobs.
Growth has clustered in a few sectors. During the past year, health care and social assistance added the most jobs in metro Atlanta — more than 18,000 — followed by hospitality which grew by 16,300 positions, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.
Despite the deceleration — and frequent predictions of recession — few signs point to an imminent downturn.
There are some layoffs, for sure. Customized Distribution recently filed notice with the state of plans to shutter an Atlanta facility, cutting 165 jobs. Medzed, which provides telehealth services, similarly told the state it will cut 43 workers at its Atlanta location. Genpact U.S. Services, which provides artificial intelligence and other digital technology, said it is laying off 45 workers at its Sandy Springs operation.
But overall, the number of new jobless claims for metro Atlanta has fallen — down from August and slightly lower than a year ago, according to the Department of Labor.
And the region remains an attractive place for people to move and for companies to expand.
Metro Atlanta’s labor force — which includes everyone with a job or actively looking for one — has grown by 155,766 people since pre-pandemic September 2019. Since the end of the Great Recession in 2010 it is 556,769 larger — 20.4% growth.
The trend has continued: The metro labor force increased by 13,140 in September and is up 38,986 from a year earlier.
This week, global insurance company American International Group said it will create an “innovation hub” in DeKalb County that will triple its office space and add more than 600 jobs over the next five years.
So, while workers in some sectors — especially tech — seem to be struggling a bit, the labor market overall is still a relatively good one.
Pay hikes have been decelerating for two years: in mid-2022, workers who switched jobs were averaging an 8.5% raise, according to the Atlanta Federal Reserve, which tracks wages. That has fallen to an average of 4.9% for workers getting a new job in September, but that is still about twice the rate of inflation.
While talk about workers “ghosting” employers is no longer rampant, there is apparently a sense that the balance of job openings to jobseekers is still favorable to the worker.
That ratio makes Georgia the sixth-tightest labor market, according to calculations by WalletHub, an online financial site. A recent survey of 1,258 workers showed 56% looking for a new job or planning a job change in the new year, according to ResumeTemplates.
WorkSource Georgia, the DOL’s job board, has more than 10,000 job listings in metro Atlanta.
Metro Atlanta jobs by the numbers
Metro Atlanta job change, September
Best: 15,900 (1994)
Worst: -15,200 (2008)
Average, decade pre-pandemic: -3,420
Recent: -600 (2024)
Unemployment rate, metro Atlanta, September
Lowest, pre-pandemic: 2.9% (1999)
Highest, pre-pandemic: 10.9% (2009)
Year ago: 3.1% (2023)
Recent: 3.4% (2024)
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Georgia Department of Labor, staff research
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