I’ve been writing a lot lately about employment and about the poor almost nonexistent response to joblessness since the recession began in 2007.
Take a look at the AJC’s piece, Atlanta top metro area — for job losses.
From the piece:
The Atlanta region lost more jobs the last year than any other metro area, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday, further evidence that the post-recessionary slump here shows little sign of abating.
Metro Atlanta shed 30,800 jobs since August 2010. Kansas City — 12,800 positions erased — was the closest competitor in job-losses. Nearly all of Atlanta’s peer metro areas added at least some jobs amid the slow economic recovery.
The figures add to a growing sense that Atlanta has experienced a Lost Decade. The Great Recession and its aftermath have obliterated the mid-decade’s huge job and wealth gains that put Atlanta atop the New South economic pedestal. The Atlanta region, for example, notched 2,237,100 jobs last month — almost exactly the same amount as in early 2002.
Slightly more than half of all Georgians live in the Atlanta metro area. If Atlanta doesn’t prosper . . .
Here’s a look at other major metro areas that are mentioned in the piece. The numbers in parentheses are negative ones. There are lots of variables to consider, but a metro area would typically need to increase the number of jobs by 1% just to keep pace with population growth.
Job growth or loss, Aug. 2010-Aug.2011
Atlanta (30,800) (1.4%)
Boston 50,600 2.1%
Chicago 11,700 0.3%
Dallas/Fort Worth 50,200 1.8%
Detroit 24,500 1.4%
Houston 65,600 2.6%
Los Angeles 19,900 0.4%
Miami/Ft Lauderdale 24,800 1.1%
New York 57,400 0.7%
Philadelphia (11,200) (0.4%)
San Francisco 8,200 0.4%
Washington 100 0%
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics