Atlanta Unemployment Rate

Atlanta Unemployment RateAtlanta Unemployment RateAtlanta Unemployment RateAs the capital and largest city in Georgia, the recovery and growth of Atlantas labor market has been challenged. While economic indicators point to the city and state having excellent economic potential, the jobless satz in both remains above the US unemployment tarif, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which records the Atlanta unemployment rate at 5.9 percent for May, 2015, compared with a 5.5 percent.Atlanta During the 2008 Recession and Its AftermathAtlanta weathered the 2008 recession poorly and its jobless rates exceeded the national average. While the national unemployment rate topped out at 10 percent in late 2009, Atlanta recorded jobless rates of over 10 percent. While these rates slowed and finally decreased nationwide throughout 2010, unemployment in Atlanta didnt peak until 2010. Since that time, economic recovery for Atlanta has proven slow but steady.Unemployment in Atlanta in 2 011 and BeyondIn 2011, over three years after the recession first hit, Atlanta still found itself in a tough spot. Where the national jobless rate across the United States hovered at about 9.1 percent in mid-2011, Atlantas unemployment rate remained at or above 10 percent. From late 2011 to the present, the city has seen a steady increase in its employment, unlike that in some of its neighboring counties and towns.Atlantas Current and Projected Jobless RatesIn late 2014, the Atlanta unemployment rate sat comfortably at 6.5 percent, just a few points higher than the national average of 5.8 percent. This recovery from 2012 to the present was due in part to some of Georgias economic decisions.In recent years, the state has welcomed corporations by offering a hands-off approach to dealing with businesses. In doing so, it maintains low tax rates, low wages and a lower level of services.Additionally, in 2013, Georgia became one of the first states to decrease the period of time that an un employed person can claim benefits. Currently, unemployment benefits in Georgia last for 18 weeks in the future, Georgias unemployment benefits will be reduced to 14 weeks.Cuts in higher education and financial aid in Georgia for college and technical schools have required many students to drop out of school or simply not enroll. This means that jobless people who need work are often no longer able to go through normal educational channels to improve their job skills. Since over 60 percent of jobs in the state require a college degree but only about 42 percent of Georgians possess one, this may prove more problematic.Atlantas Major Industries and Their Impact on UnemploymentAccording to the BLS, major industries in Atlanta that demonstrate growth include trade, transportation and utilities, along with government, professional and business services, and education and health services. From 2013 to 2014, both the trade and transportation and professional and business services sectors g rew between 3 percent and 5 percent. These numbers point to positive trends for these supersectors, where employment may continue to grow.Industries that demonstrated extremely slow growth in Atlanta from 2013 to 2014 include mining and logging, education, information and government. Even though a significant portion of Atlantas workforce lies in government and education, these industries dont reflect immediate opportunities for job growth. Some of these trends may slow or reverse over the next decade, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates.Through 2022, the BLS projects increased opportunities for education jobs in the South, with about 12 percent job growth expected over the next decade. Transportation, another major industry in Atlanta, demonstrates similar growth. Through 2022, the BLS projects 9 percent job growth for commercial pilots, or about 3,600 new jobs nationwide. Within the healthcare industry, the BLS projects 18 percent job growth for physicians and 38 per cent job growth for physician assistants nationwide. With healthcare already growing in Atlanta, this could prove to be a booming industry in the city.While Atlanta has seen higher unemployment rates than the national average since the 2008 recession, job growth in the city from 2010 onward has vastly improved employment prospects. Continued growth in industries like healthcare and transportation point to the potential for additional job prospects in years to come.A key measure of labor supply, the unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of the total labor force that is unemployed but actively seeking employment and willing to work. Use the links below to see unemployment trends from the 28 major metropolitan marketsAtlantaDetroitNew York CitySan FranciscoBostonHoustonPhiladelphiaSeattleChicagoauf gehts AngelesPittsburghWashington, D.C.DallasRelated ResourcesPost a Job Atlanta

How Job Seekers Can Use Daylight Savings Time

How Job Seekers Can Use Daylight Savings TimeHow Job Seekers Can Use Daylight Savings Time1The clocks are turning back this Sunday at 200 a.m. for the end of Daylight Savings Time. But instead of hitting the snooze button and catching an extra hour of zzzs, savvy job seekers should take advantage of the extra hour to improve their chances of scoring a job. Here are five things you can do during those extra 60 minutes.Create a calendar.Sundays are always a great day to plan out your week. With the extra hour youll have, pencil in the items that arent on your calendar- but should be. From blocking off time to search for jobs to setting reminders to get back in touch with your professional network, utilize the time to get organized. Your workweek will thank you for it.Clear out your office. Right now, your desk is a sea of stamps and papers, and your desktop isnt faring much better. While its still quiet in the house, grab a cup of coffee and start sorting, stacking, and recycling. File only the most important papers and documents- scan and toss the rest. Back up digital files to an external hard drive, and neatly organize Word docs and PowerPoint presentations into folders. Being able to see the cute photo of your kids on your screen will motivate you to keep your desktop- and hopefully your entire home office- spick and span.Rethink your plan. Youve been searching for a job for a while now, and youve pretty much got the job hunt down to a science. It might be a good idea though to take the extra hour to reassess your job search. Think creatively of ways that you can find a new position- perhaps you should sign up for that networking event thats coming to your city next week, or reach out to that well-connected former colleague for any potential leads. Shaking up your routine might be just the trick to finding a new gig.Learn something new.One of the beautiful aspects of life is that we never stop learning. So take the time to tap into your interests and discover something new. Maybe youve been putting off learning how to change your email signature or learning how to (finally) use the Lasso tool in Photoshop. You may not learn how to do it all in an hour, but starting the process is a great first step towards accomplishing your goal.Update your social media. Sometimes you get so caught up in your job search that your social media channels get neglected. Sit down and open up your LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest pages. (Dont have all of them? You should they are an amazing way of finding new job leads) Update your social media channels with any new skills, experiences, or endorsements that youve received. Having your social media up to date is something that many hiring managers look for and it can help you immensely in your job search.While the dark night sky and cold temps may have you clamoring for your bed, getting up and taking advantage of the extra hour that Daylight Savings provides can be just the trick to helpin g you find the job of your dreams.Readers, are you going to take advantage of the extra hour of Daylight Savings Time, or are you planning to sleep in? Let us know in the comments section below

14 Reasons This is a Perfect Recent College Graduate Resume

14 Reasons This is a Perfect Recent College Graduate Resume14 Reasons This is a Perfect Recent College Graduate Resume14 Reasons This is a Perfect Recent College Grad ResumeIf youre unsure where to start or what to include in your entry-level college grad resume, were here to helpTopResume recently partnered with TheJobNetwork to produce a webinar all about resume writing for the recent college graduate.Watch the following video to learn how to write the perfect recent-graduate resume for an entry-level position.Also, check out a sample resume below to help craft the perfect resume for your job search.Below are 14 reasons why this is an excellent resume for a recent college graduate.1. He used a professional-looking email addressThe email address fratbro4lifedomain.com may have been funny when you were in college, but its not the best choice to represent your professional brand in the working world. Do yourself a favor and set up a professional-looking email address thats reserved fo r your job-seeking activities.2. It includes a customized link to his LinkedIn profileNot only is LinkedIn a great distributions-mix to build your professional brand and make connections, but recruiters also expect to find you on there. In fact, a survey found that mora than 90 percent of employers use LinkedIn to search for and evaluate job candidates. Make it easy for them to find you by including the link to your profile at the top of your resume. Take it a step further and customize your LinkedIn profile URL so it matches your brand and fits nicely on your resume.3. The professional summary isnt full of fluffIt can be tempting to throw a bunch of buzzwords such as ambitious and self-starter into the summary section of your college-grad resume, but employers know these are pure fluff and wont be impressed when they read them. Dont tell employers how youre a great team player. Instead, explain how you served on a committee to raise money for your lacrosse team or received accolade s for a group project during your internship. Click on the following link for more tips to craft your professional summary.4. Nicholas optimized his resume with relevant keywordsYour job application needs to get past multiple gatekeepers before it makes it into the hands of a hiring manager. Take a look at the job listings youre interested in and identify the key terms and phrases that routinely pop up. If you have those skills or were exposed to that industry or process, incorporate them into your resume. You can add them to a Core Competencies section, similar to Nicholas resume, or incorporate them throughout the Work Experience section.5. There arent any mentions of high schoolHiring managers are interested in what youve done lately, not what you accomplished four or more years before you went to college. Focus on highlighting your activities, accomplishments, and the work experience that took place during your college career, calling special attention to anything that directly supports your job goals.6. He lists his GPAOnly list your GPA on your entry-level resume if its a 3.0/4.0 or higher. If the GPA in your major is higher than your overall GPA, feel free to use that instead. However, keep in mind that employers will know why you didnt include your GPA and may ask you about it during the interview process.7. Nicholas didnt include his courseworkIf youve held at least one internship thats relevant to your degree and career goals, theres no reason to also include a list of the courses you took. Employers will value your internship experience over the stuff you learned in the classroom any day of the week. However, if you did not intern, include a list of the 400-level courses you took that are most closely tied to your job goals to show hiring managers what subjects youre familiar with.8. It plays up Nicholas selling pointsThe format of your entry-level college-graduate resume will depend on the information you have to work with. If you have a ton of gre at internship experience, highlight that just below your professional summary and education sections. If you didnt hold any jobs that were related to your future career, play up other information instead, such as the high-level courses you took, major projects you participated in, academic or athletic honors you received, or extra-curricular activities that demonstrate your leadership skills. In Nicholas case, we divided his experience into two categories so his relevant internships took the spotlight. 9. Each employer has a company descriptionHelp employers get a better understanding of the industries and work environments you were exposed to by including a line that describes each company with which you held an internship. If youre tight on space, feel free to eliminate this information for your summer jobs that arent related to your current career goals. You can also omit this information from your internships if they were all held at companies with big, well-known brand names.10 . Nicholas bulleted the most important informationUse bullet points to draw attention to the information you believe recruiters will care most about. This may include an accomplishment or other major contribution you helped your team achieve.11. Action verbs are used to describe his work experienceNotice how the bullets under Nicholas roles begin with an action verb? This information focuses on how Nicholas contributed to an end result. When youre new to the workforce, you may not have many major accomplishments and contributions to include in your resume however, use action verbs (e.g. created, led, managed, improved, developed, built) to describe your activities.12. His extracurricular activities and honors are providedYour first resume out of college should play up your best selling points. This may include any projects or extracurricular activities you held while attending college, as well as any scholarships or other honors you received during that time. Click on the following link for more tips on how to build a resume using college involvement as experience. 13. Nicholas relevant skills are listedTake a closer look at the job descriptions that interest you and note what technical skills they expect you to possess. This may include proficiency with a particular software program or language skill thats considered valuable in your chosen field. If you have a working knowledge of these platforms, list them on your resume. If you keep seeing a skill or tool mentioned that you dont know much about, look for free or low-cost online courses on the topic to bolster your skill set. Resources such as edX, SkillShare, and Lynda.com are great places to start.14. References are not includedAs an entry-level professional, you only get one page of resume real estate dont waste it by adding references or the phrase References available upon request. Employers usually wont ask for this information until you make it to a face-to-face interview, and they know youll provid e it if they request it.Looking for more samples and advice? Click on the following links to check out a recording of our recent resume-writing webinar and take a look at another recent college graduate resume sample I wrote for Business Insider.Click on the following link for more resume advice.Need help with your post-grad resume? Learn more about our professional resume-writing services to get a resume like the one above.Recommended ReadingBad Resume Advice You Should Completely IgnoreThe Hottest Entry-Level Jobs for Recent Grads17+ Job Resources for College Graduates