Introduction
Unemployment is the most important indicator of the economy’s health. Its rise confirms the economy’s decline after a recession and leads to the diminishment of household purchasing power, which decreases overall consumption and causes a further economic downturn (Amadeo, 2020; Picardo, 2020). The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics qualifies people without a job who have been actively searching for work within the past four weeks as “unemployed” and reports the total amount on the first Friday of every month (Amadeo, 2020). In this essay, I will present the current unemployment statistics and job outlook in the state of Georgia.
Main body
The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) announced that the unemployment rate had dropped to 3.2 percent in October, the lowest since the start of the coronavirus pandemic (2021). Eighty-six percent of the jobs lost in March 2020, when the outbreak started, have been gained back (GDOL, 2021). The main factor influencing job growth is the creation of 308,106 new vacancies, twice the amount of people looking for employment (GDOL, 2021). The record-low unemployment rate demonstrates the economy’s recovery and the success of GDOL’s initiatives.
Georgia’s unemployment rate has decreased over the past eight years. It equaled 8.7 percent in 2013, compared to 3.2 percent today (Ove, 2014; GDOL, 2021). It declined as the economy recovered from the 2007-2009 recession, the worst economic crisis in the U.S. since the Second World War (The Investopedia Team, 2020). After the housing bubble burst and the global financial crisis, unemployment rates reached a record high in 2010 and did not recover until 2015 (The Investopedia Team, 2020). The 2007 recession had a deep impact on the size and structure of the global economy, worsened by the 2020 pandemic, but Georgia’s current unemployment rate indicates recovery.
Georgia’s job market outlook is expected to improve within the next two years. GDOL projects that there will be 552,000 new job openings annually, and the total employment rate will increase by over 113,000 (2020). The top five industries with the most projected job growth include ambulatory health services; professional, scientific, and technical services; food services and drinking places; management of companies and enterprises; and real estate (GDOL, 2020). Multiple job openings will be offered in several profitable industries.
Although more vacancies are being offered, I believe the unemployment rate will not significantly decrease because most jobs offer no benefits and unlivable salaries. During quarantine, people understood that they preferred to work from home and spend time with their families. Most of the current vacancies do not have options for remote work or opportunities for career development; they present a health risk because the coronavirus is developing dangerous variants; companies are not offering enough wages to attract new employees. The closest Department of Labor in my area is the one in Clayton County, and it does not realize that it is not enough to create vacancies without desirable conditions.
There are several requirements to qualify for unemployment compensation in Georgia. Most importantly, the claimant is unemployed through no fault of his own and is actively looking for a new job (GDOL, 2020). He must prove that his most recent job loss was not due to unsatisfactory work and be available for work in the area each week without restrictions (GDOL, 2020). The amount and length of benefits received depends on the wages earned before, ranging from six to twenty weeks of compensation amounting to 55 to 365 USD (GDOL, 2020). In general, unemployment compensation is determined by reason of separation from the previous job and previous wages earned.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Georgia unemployment rate is at a record-low after recovering from the 2007-2009 economic recession and the coronavirus pandemic. The Department of Labor has good projections for the job market for the next two years, but I do not believe the unemployment rate will be significantly reduced because the new vacancies are not offering enough benefits to attract employees. The government needs to assess how the population’s mindset concerning work has shifted following quarantine and create jobs that respond to new workers’ needs.
References
Amadeo, K. (2020). Unemployment rate, effect, and trends. The Balance, Web.
Georgia Department of Labor. (2021). Georgia sets record-low unemployment rate achieving highest number of employed Georgians since pandemic [Press release]. Web.
Georgia Department of Labor. (2020). Short-term employment projections. Web.
Ove, J. (2014). “Georgia’s unemployment rate decreased in August”. Patch, Web.
Picardo, E. (2020). How the unemployment rate affects everybody. Investopedia, Web.
The Investopedia Team. (2020). The great recession. Investopedia, Web.