Albany jobless rate increases

ALBANY — The Georgia Department of Labor reported Thursday that the preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate in the metro Albany area rose to 10.5 percent in December, up three-tenths of a percentage point from a revised 10.2 percent in November.

“The job growth didn’t keep up with the demand for jobs,” said Sam Hall, communications director for the state Labor Department. “More people are looking for jobs than there are to fill.”

The number of unemployed workers in the area increased by 323, from 7,708 in November 2009 to 8,031 in December 2009.

In December 2008, when the unemployment rate was 7.4 percent, there were 5,640 jobless workers in the metro Albany area. The number of payroll jobs in the region last month was 62,200, a loss of 1,200, or 1.9 percent, from 63,400 a year before.

A county-by-county breakdown of unemployment rates for metro Albany counties shows Dougherty at 11.5 percent, Worth at 11.1 percent, Lee at 8 percent, Terrell at 10.9 percent nd Baker at 9.3 percent. Two counties adjacent to Dougherty also had double-digit joblessness — Calhoun at 11 percent and Mitchell at 10.2 percent.

“This just continues to point out that we have a weak job market,” Hall said.

A great deal of job losses in the region occurred within the manufacturing and local government sectors, including local education, Hall said.

Economic recovery will show itself when employers within the private sector hire workers at a faster pace, officials say. “The key to job growth is in the private sector,” Hall said.

The numbers now suggest that one in 10 people are out of work, and they get higher when factoring in the underemployed — those working part-time or in lower positions than they normally would, said Amaechi Nwaokoro, assistant professor of economics at Albany State University.

“If you take these people into consideration, the rate would be much higher,” he said.

The most common impacts of such a situation include a decrease in purchasing power, increased uncertainty for both employers and employees, increased crime, and businesses either relocating or closing shop altogether — which are impacts that have been felt in Albany since the recession started.

Fortunately, there is an end in sight.

“No situation comes that will not end,” Nwaokoro said. “We will be over this; it’s going to rebound. We will go back to job prosperity.”

In the meantime, Nwaokoro advises the unemployed to expanded their skill sets in order to function in fields currently experiencing growth. “People can be told to find jobs in health care and services,” he said.

Recovery may take time, but experts are saying that things have gotten about as bad as they are going to. “We have hit the bottom and are on the route to recovery,” Nwaokoro said.

Statewide, the number of payroll jobs in December 2009 was 3,859,800, a decrease of 175,000, or 4.3 percent, from 4,034,800 in December 2008. The year-to-year losses came in trade, transportation and utilities, manufacturing, construction and professional and business services. Educational and health services added 11,200 jobs over the year.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 10.3 percent last month, matching the record high reported last July. The jobless rate was up two-tenths of a percentage point from a revised 10.1 percent in November 2009. The rate was up 2.8 percentage points from the 7.5 percent reported at this time last year.

Since the recession began in December 2007, Georgia’s work force has shrunk by 121,257 workers, or 2.5 percent, from 4,823,467 to 4,702,210.