Jobless rate falls in Tennessee, Georgia

By the numbers7.1 percent - Tennessee jobless rate in October, down 0.2 percent7.7 percent - Georgia jobless rate in October, down 0.2 percent5.8 percent - U.S. jobless rate in October, down 0.1 percentSources: Tennessee Department of Employment and Workforce Development, Georgia Department of Labor

Employers added nearly 42,000 workers across Tennessee and Georgia last month, cutting the jobless rate in both states by two-tenths of a percentage point.

But the October unemployment rate of 7.1 percent in Tennessee and 7.7 percent in Georgia remained well above the 5.8 percent nationwide rate.

The number of persons on the job in the two states rose to the highest level since before the 2009-2010 recession.

"We had significant over-the-year growth in almost every sector, which shows the overall strength in our job recovery," Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said in an announcement of the drop in unemployment. "I'm especially encouraged that the number of construction jobs grew by nearly 5 percent to give us the most jobs in that industry in five years."

Georgia's jobless rate rose earlier this year to the highest of any state and Tennessee's rate has remained above the national average for nearly four years.

"Finding a job is still tough, but the market seems to be getting better," said Destiny Freeman, a 29-year-old Chattanoogan who recently began working at the Amazon's distribution center and was applying for a job Thursday for the new Plastic Omnium plant being built in Chattanooga. "I'm hopeful, but there's a lot of competition."

Freeman was among more than 750 persons who visited the job fair at the Embassy Suites hotel Thursday by HIT Employment Solutions, a staffing agency that is placing and hiring temp-to-work employees for Plastic Omnium.

The automotive supplier is seeking to fill 184 jobs that will open up next year at the new Plastic Omnium plant in the Enterprise South Industrial Park. The company expects to grow to 300 employees and HTI is sorting through the applicants to help staff the new plant. HTI serves other Plastic Omnium plants in South Carolina.

"The response today was better than we expected and we got applicants of all types for these jobs," said Steven Sawyer, manager of business development for HTI.

HTI took applications for nearly 10 hours. Eight HTI representatives met with applicants to help assess their interests and skill level. The first wave of workers hired should begin work in the first quarter of next year, Sawyer said.

William Isaac Rawser is hoping to be an early hire in an engineering job at Plastic Omnium. The 23-year-old earned his associate's degree in engineering technology at Chattanooga State and is pursuing a bachelor's degree from Tennessee Tech.

"I'm looking for my first real job to use this education and I'm hoping I can land a position," he said.

Manufacturers like Plastic Omnium added 1,300 jobs in Tennessee last month.

Despite the job gains, however, the average manufacturing workweek in Tennessee fell from 42.4 hours in September to 42.3 in October. Average weekly earnings for a typical factory worker in Tennessee last month totaled $826.66, down $2.81 from the previous month.

Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340

Upcoming Events