Albany labor force grows along with unemployment claims
File Photo
From staff reports
ATLANTA — Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said last week that Albany saw its labor force grow in November, even as the state saw a significant increase in first-time unemployment claims.
Albany also saw positive numbers across nearly all major indicators, including number of employed residents and initial claims for November.
“In November, almost all MSAs saw over-the-month growth in key indicators,” Butler said in a news release. “Although the unemployment rate increased across the state, we have held consistently steady numbers in areas such as job growth and employment. We will continue to fill the jobs that are currently available in order for us to move our economy back to where it was pre-pandemic.”
In Albany, the unemployment rate increased by 1.1 percentage points in November, reaching 6.7 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.5 percent.
The labor force increased in Albany by 1,115 and ended the month with 66,394. That number is down 417 when compared to November of 2019. Albany finished the month with 61,947 employed residents. That number increased by 309 over the month and is down by 2,503 when compared to the same time a year ago.
Albany ended November with 60,400 jobs. That number remained flat from October to November but decreased by 3,200 when compared to this time last year.
The number of unemployment claims went down by 57 percent in Albany. When compared to last November, claims were up by about 369 percent.
Employ Georgia, the GDOL’s online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed about 963 active job postings in metro Albany for November. Interested persons can visit dol.georgia.gov to learn more about career opportunities, Employ Georgia and other GDOL services for job seekers and employers and to connect with the Labor department on social media.
In his weekly report on the state’s and metropolitan areas’ economic metrics, Butler said first-time unemployment claims increased in Georgia last week as the state Department of Labor prepared to implement the new economic stimulus package Congress initially passed earlier in the week.
Initial unemployment claims totaled 26,673 last week, up 2,971 from the week before, the state Labor department reported.
Butler warned that fully implementing the provisions of the new bill would be slow going when Congress announced it had approved the stimulus package. But President Trump later vetoed the package because, he said, it includes $600 stimulus checks for Americans rather than the $2,000 checks he supports.
“Some of the provisions included in the bill should be able to be implemented fairly quickly,” Butler said before Trump announced his veto. “However, most of the new additions in the bill are going to take a substantial amount of time due to their very complicated nature.
“These new enhancements could take months of system development to implement along with the other changes that we will have to program.”
Butler offered no comment after Trump announced he would veto the legislation.
Since the president did not sign the bill, all federal unemployment insurance programs created last March as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act will end on New Year’s Eve. The last week payable ends on Dec. 26 for individual-filed claims and on Dec. 30 for employer-filed claims.
Even before the uncertainty over the new stimulus bill, unemployed Georgians have been complaining over delays in processing claims under the current system, with the Labor department overwhelmed with an unprecedented number of claims sparked by the pandemic’s impact on the economy.
“We’re seeing incredible delays with making determinations on claims,” Lisa Krisher, director of advocacy for Georgia Legal Services, said this week during a hearing held by the state House Democratic Caucus’ Subcommittee on COVID-19. “You can’t get anyone on the phone at the Labor department to explain what’s going on.”
Krisher said the online appointment scheduling system the Labor department set up during the fall has helped some, but claimants still are having a hard time getting answers when their claims are delayed or denied.
Since the pandemic exploded in Georgia last March, the Labor agency has paid out more than $16.6 billion in state and federal unemployment benefits to nearly 4.2 million Georgians, more than the last nine years combined.
