With the unemployment rate on the rise, finding a job in Atlanta just got harder. During the month of November, the percentage of the metro area population that was without a job rose from 6.7 percent to 7 percent, according to the Georgia Department of Labor. This means that competition for available positions is much higher than before the economy began to struggle.

As of now, the unemployment rate in the area is the highest it has been since 1983. The national average was only 6.7 percent last month, meaning that Atlanta is doing worse than most of the country.

The rise in joblessness in Atlanta is much more significant when viewed in comparison to last year’s statistics. During November of 2007, only 4.1 percent of those living in the 28 counties that make up the metro area.

Earlier in the year, Atlanta was considered one of the best areas in the country for job growth. Despite this, many believe that the situation is only about to get worse.

“The fallout form the financial crisis is intensifying. This is a work in progress. It’s not over,” Rajeev Dhawan, who is the director of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We have not seen the bottom as yet.”

During November metro area employers did away with 11,700 jobs in Atlanta. In the last 12 months, 67,800 positions have been done away with in all of the counties making up the metro.

Things aren’t expected to get better for the area for sometime now. Although experts disagree, Atlanta’s job market isn’t expected to recover during the next six months. Those looking for work in the area should consider using all of the resources they have available. Online job search engines, social networking and recruitment agencies are all a good idea at this point.

Labels: Atlanta jobs