Carla Lake was out of work for five months, living on unemployment benefits and letting family members help pay her mortgage and utility bills.
The Georgia woman overcome the disappointment of job interviews that went so well she had goosebumps -- but yielded nothing. After working 20 years in medical reimbursements, she was forced to consider other fields.
Last month, Lake, 49, landed a job handling billing for an Atlanta attorney. She was so happy to be working again she compared it to “going to heaven every day,” and she wouldn’t dare let the long ride from from her Dallas residence bother her, saying, “I commute 40 miles a day each way, and I don’t mind.”
Lake is one of 151,000 people who went back to work in October, joining in the nation’s biggest monthly increase in net jobs since April, according to Labor Department figures released Friday. Businesses added 159,000 net new jobs last month, a hopeful sign that companies were pushing aside their cautious attitude toward hiring. Governments at all levels cut 8,000 jobs, resulting in the lower figure.
The Labor Department revised its figures for August and September, showing an additional 103,000 private-sector job gains. The revised figures also showed that companies have added more than 100,000 net new jobs in each of the past four months.
The national unemployment rate remained stuck at 9.6 percent for the third straight month. In Georgia, job figures were not available for October, but September figures offered a slight improvement: metro Atlanta’s jobless rate dipped to 10 percent in September, down from 10.3 percent, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.
Atlanta’s jobless rate now matches Georgia’s overall rate -- 10 percent. Add in those who have given up seeking work or who work part-time, the so-called underemployment rate nationally was 17 percent last month, down slightly from September’s 17.1-percent figure.
Rajeev Dhawan, Georgia State University Economic Forecasting Center director, said job gains of 150,000 monthly are good, but not enough to produce tangible results in the unemployment picture. For a notable improvement in the unemployment rate, the economy needs to gain 250,000 jobs a month for several months.
Georgia has special challenges in rebuilding the job market. With several bank collapses and a construction industry that has bottomed out, the state must focus on rebuilding the corporate sector, Dhawan said.
On Friday, President Barack Obama said he was “open to any idea, any proposal” that would help jump-start the economy.
Nationally, the job gains should give Americans more income to spend, providing some support to the sluggish economy. That higher income, combined with the potential extension of the Bush tax cuts and the Federal Reserve’s move earlier this week to push interest rates down, could help the economy gain momentum, economists said.
The employment report showed much stronger job gains than Wall Street analysts had expected. The economy is growing, but at a weak pace, economists said.
“This is not a gangbusters report but it is very important,” said Carl Riccadonna, a Deutsche Bank economist. “It shows us that the momentum in employment is building.”
October’s job gains were concentrated in relatively few sectors: Retailers added 27,900 positions, likely in preparation for the holiday season. Temporary agencies added 34,900. Restaurants and bars hired 24,400 people. And education and health care added 53,000 positions.
Taylor Molinari is happy to be included in these figures. After graduating from Georgia State University last December, she wasn’t sure how long it would take to land her first professional public relations job. Finding work when so many more qualified people also needed jobs was daunting.
The east Cobb woman worked nights at a restaurant while she searched for a better job during the day. Monthly, she pored over job postings with no luck.
Finally, a family friend put Molinari, 23, in touch with an industry contact. That interview led to another with a custom interior design company, Pleat Street. The small business hired her last month.
“I feel really, really lucky,” Molinari said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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