Job openings and quits rates in Georgia remain at high levels in December

Job openings, hires, and layoffs and discharges rates showed little change over the month, while total separations and quits rates fell in December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job openings and quit rates in Georgia remained near record levels.

Job Openings

Georgia’s job openings rate showed little change in December, recording 403,000 openings on the last business day of the month for a job openings rate of 8.0%. Nationally, job opening rates increased in seven states, declined in four, and were little changed in the other states in December.

Compared to December 2020, the number of job openings in Georgia grew by 128,000 and the rate of job openings increased from 5.8% recorded in December 2020.

Hires

The number of hires in the state were virtually unchanged over the month. In Georgia, 238,000 hires were recorded in December for a rate of 5.1%. Hiring rates declined in six states and increased in one state over the month.

Compared to last December, the number of hires in Georgia grew by 44,000 with the hiring rate rising from 4.4% in December 2020 to 5.1 percent in December 2021.

Total Separations

Total separations fell by 39,000 in Georgia for December to 234,000 with the separations rate falling to 5.0%. In December, total separations rates fell in 15 states and increased in two states.

Compared to December 2020, total separations in Georgia increased by 26,000.

Quits

The number of quits in Georgia fell by 24,000 to 175,000 in December with the quits rate dropping to 3.8%. Nationally, quits rates fell in 13 states and increased in four states in December.

Compared to December 2020, the number of quits in Georgia rose by 36,000.

Layoffs and Discharges

Layoffs and discharges in the state were virtually unchanged in December with the layoffs and discharges totaling 50,000 for the month and the rate remaining at 1.1%. Layoffs and discharges rates decreased in 10 states and increased in one state in December.

Compared to a year ago, the number of layoffs and discharges in Georgia was virtually unchanged in December and the rate remained unchanged.

Definitions and additional technical information is available at State Job Openings and Labor Turnover Technical Note - 2021 M12 Results (bls.gov). 

Home prices surge in north Georgia for 2021

 

Georgia home prices in the northern counties of the state surged in 2021 with many counties reporting increases above the national average of 18.5%.

Home prices in Clayton County rose 31.3% over the year followed by prices in Madison County growing by 30.3%.

Twenty-eight counties recorded home price increases from 20 to 30 percent, while 16 counties showed increases of 10 to 20 percent over the year.

Georgia’s largest county by population, Fulton County, recorded a below-average increase of 16.1%. DeKalb County posted a 15.3% increase, while Gwinnett County showed  an increase of 25.7% and Cobb County posted a 19.3% rise over the year.

Data provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which compiled information for 1,200 counties nationwide in conjunction with CoreLogic. For more information see https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/home-price-index

Home Price Increases, December 2020 to December 2021

Clayton County 31.3%

Madison County 30.3%

Jackson County 28.5%

Pickens County 28.5%

Fannin County 28.1%

Paulding County 26.4%

Barrow County 26.3%

Forsyth County 26.2%

Lumpkin County 26.2%

Bartow County 26.0%

Gwinnett County 25.7%

Gilmer County 25.6%

Henry County 25.6%

Hall County 25.3%

Newton County 25.1%

Rabun County 24.7%

Habersham County 24.1%

Union County 23.4%

Carroll County 23.2%

Cherokee County 23.0%

Walton County 22.5%

Coweta County 22.3%

Spalding County 22.3%

Douglas County 21.9%

Greene County 21.5%

Troup County 21.3%

Murray County 20.9%

Floyd County 20.5%

White County 20.5%

Clarke County 19.9%

Polk County 19.9%

Whitfield County 19.8%

Cobb County 19.3%

Catoosa County 19.2%

Gordon County 19.0%

Oconee County 19.0%

Rockdale County 19.0%

Walker County 18.8%

Fayette County 18.6%

Dawson County 17.9%

Fulton County 16.1%

DeKalb County 15.3%

Haralson County 15.3%

Butts County 10.8%

December jobs data for Georgia hide losses in key sectors of the Atlanta job market

 

Georgia gained more than 24,000 jobs in December leaving the state fewer than 19,000 jobs below the level it achieved pre-pandemic in February 2020, but that overall number is hiding the ongoing losses in some specific job areas. (For the Atlanta area, the gain was 10,900 jobs, after seasonal adjustment.)

Using not seasonally adjusted data supplied by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and comparing employment counts of February 2020 with the most recent data of December 2021, significant employment losses continue in the leisure and hospitality, other services, and government sectors. These losses centered on the Atlanta metropolitan area.

In the Atlanta area, employment in the leisure and hospitality area remains 35,300 below its February 2020 level with 26,300 of those lost jobs in the food services and drinking places industry. At this point it is difficult to discern how many of those missing jobs are due to the inability to fill positions at current wage levels, and how many are due to decreased activity by consumers who continue to cut back on their dining-out activities due to Covid concerns.

There is some evidence that the leisure and hospitality industry in Georgia is suffering worse than nationally because of a lack of consumer confidence about exposure to the coronavirus. Georgia’s decision to not enforce more restrictions, such as mask mandates or testing, may be damaging the industry in the Atlanta area when compared to the national data.

Other services is a catch-all sector that includes a diversity of industries. Compared to February 2020, in the Atlanta area employment is still 10,100 jobs below its previous level. Within this sector, repair and maintenance jobs are greater by 900 while personal and laundry employment is down by 3,100. This still leaves 12,300 jobs missing, which are most likely tied to the other segment of this sector – religious, grantmaking, civic, and professional organizations. A number of these organizations provide services to the community not provided by government or profit-seeking businesses, and it remains to be seen how long it will take employment in this industry to recover.

The third sector is government, with a net loss of 4,300 jobs compared to pre-pandemic. Both federal and state employment show gains of 2,700 and 500 respectively, since February 2020; but these gains are offset by a continued 7,500 job loss in local governments in the Atlanta area. Unless these jobs are restored, there is a danger that services provided by local governments will continue to underperform even as residents expect improved performance.

None of these losses are evident in the overall job numbers for the state, which proves why it is worthwhile to go below the headline numbers when looking at employment data.