With many national and local economies struggling, more Atlanta jobs are being lost.

The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta area’s total non-farm employment for July 2008 came in at 2,440,400, a decrease of .2 percent from last year, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. The area saw an unemployment rate of 6.3 percent, higher than the national unemployment rate of 5.7 percent.

The Federal Reserve Bank recently released a report including a look at the economic condition of 12 federal branches, including Atlanta. The report shows that the city’s economy is currently not much different than that of the rest of the nation, and more Atlanta jobs are being lost.
Unemployment rates have continued to grow both in Atlanta and throughout the country. The United States has lost about 500,000 jobs over the past seven months. The current credit, mortgage, auto and manufacturing crises have some believing it will take some time for the local and national economy to recover.

In an article by the Atlanta Journal-Courier, Mark Vaughan, executive vice president of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the area’s declining leisure and hospitality industry parallels the economy.

“We are a direct reflection on the economy,” he said in the article. “We have seen a drop in occupancy in the market. When the economy is great, business people travel. When it is not so great, they tend not to travel.”

In July and August, the manufacturing industry experienced a slight decline. Vehicle production at area plants also slowed. In residential real estate, new and existing home sales remained below average. Apartment and other commercial construction noted a slowdown. The tourism industry increased slightly, but sales were below expected numbers.

In July 2008, industries in Atlanta that decreased from last year include:

• natural resources and mining by 4 percent
• construction by 2.9 percent
• manufacturing by 3.5 percent
• trade, transportation and utilities by .3 percent
• financial activities by 2.3 percent
• professional and business services by .4 percent

Industries that increased include:

• information by 1.3 percent
• education and health services by 2.9 percent
• leisure and hospitality by .8 percent
• other services by .3 percent
• government by .5 percent

This entry was posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 10:48 am and is filed under jobs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.