Merger benefits Atlanta economy and jobs

Merger between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines has just created 500 Atlanta jobs. Atlanta, the company's location, will be welcoming additional new employees from Northwest's Minneapolis headquarters.

Delta plans to hire “MBA-types” in 60 positions including finance, economics, math and operations research to work in pricing. Northwest's pricing operation will be moving to the city.

Other positions to move to Atlanta, from Minneapolis, are flight dispatchers and other staff. The airline is expanding its operations control center.

This merger is going to help the economy as well. With all the employees moving, the housing market will benefit.

“These are all people that are going to be down here buying houses,” said Delta chief executive Richard Anderson.

Currently the airline has about 25,000 employees in Georgia, with most of them in Atlanta. Prior to finalizing the merger, Delta was at risk of loosing 1,000 jobs.

New Jobs from Atlanta Casino

New Atlanta jobs could result from a new casino. On Monday, March 2, the Atlanta City Council unanimously gave their support for a possible up and coming casino. The $450 million gaming establishment tied to the Georgia lottery.

The casino would be located in historic Underground Atlanta. The current owners of the Underground currently have almost a billion dollar plan for a casino and hotel before the Georgia Lottery Board.

“We look forward to the opportunity to work with the City to make this redevelopment a reality, and bring economic vitality to the City," said Dan O'Leary, owner of Underground Atlanta.

According to Georgia Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for the city has increased to 7.4%, a steady increase from past months due to increasing jobs lose. If passed, numerous jobs could be created throughout the hotel, casino, restaurant, and more.

The Council has high expectations for the establishment. According to The Weekly, City Councilman Jim Maddox, Chair of the City Council’s Community Development Committee, stated that, “The development has the potential to create 1,000 new jobs in the first phase of the development and a cumulative 2,000 direct jobs in the second phase. Additionally, we expect $42 million to be spent on food and beverages the first year and a total general and administrative payroll of more than $20 million."

If passed, the casino could increase tourism and therefore financially benefiting the city.

Metro Atlanta’s October unemployment rate up to 6.8 percent

The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) has reported that the unemployment rate in metro Atlanta rose to a preliminary unadjusted rate of 6.8 percent in October, up 2.4 percentage points over the year from October of 2007. The loss rate of Atlanta jobs rose four-tenths of one percentage point from a revised 6.4 percent in September.

Meanwhile, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 7.0 percent in October, the highest rate in more than 16 years. The jobless rate was up 2.5 percentage points from 4.5 percent at this same time last year. The October unemployment rate was up six-tenths of one percentage point from a revised 6.4 percent in September. At present, 343,093 unemployed Georgians are looking for work.

“Georgia’s economy continues to suffer from increasing job losses and rising unemployment,” said State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond. “I commend our state’s congressional delegation and President Bush for approving extended unemployment insurance benefits for the more than 90,000 Georgians who may be eligible under the new law. This is welcomed and much-needed financial assistance, as they search for new jobs.”

Benefit recipients who have already exhausted their claims and meet eligibility requirements under the new legislation will receive written notification, an application, and instructions on how to apply. Individuals who are currently receiving unemployment insurance benefits and exhaust their claims should continue to certify each week. They will automatically be enrolled for the extended benefits.

Over the last year, the number of payroll jobs decreased 61,300 or 1.5 percent. This is the largest October-to-October decline in jobs ever recorded. The over-the-year job losses came across-the-board in all major sectors. Manufacturing, construction, retail trade, and private employment agencies were especially hard hit.

In metro Atlanta, the number of jobs in October dropped 44,800 over the year, or 1.8 percentage points, from 2,479,500 to 2,434,700. From September to October, the number of jobs in Atlanta rose 600.

Atlanta area jobs

ATM and self-checkout machines manufacturer NCR recently announced that it will be creating 916 jobs in the Atlanta area. A spokesperson for the company said that that it plans to increase its workforce in Georgia by 50 percent during the course of the next 26 months. Anywhere between 60 to 80 percent of these new jobs will be in Peachtree City, which is part of the metropolitan area that makes up Atlanta.

This news comes at a time when the Atlanta jobless rate was up to 6.5 percent in September from 6.2 percent in August. The most recent statistics from the state Department of Labor show that 17,200 jobs in Atlanta last month, which is almost half the number it has lost in the last year. Experts believe that these new Atlanta area jobs will make up for the 500 positions cut by Panasonic in Peachtree City.

Although these jobs may take the place of the others lost as far as statistics go, Matt Forshee, who is the president and CEO of the Fayette County Development Authority, said that few of the employees effected by the Panasonic cuts will have the customer service skills needed for these positions.

According to Forshee, Fortune 500 company NCR has plans to train somewhere around 6,200 employees a year in Peachtree City. These positions will help the economy further because workers who are from out of town will be staying at area hotels and eating near-by restaurants.
"I just tell 'em welcome to Peachtree City and plan to stay," said Harold Logsdon, who is the Mayor of Peachtree City.

The other 20 to 40 percent of the Atlanta area jobs will be going to Duluth. The company currently has around 600 employees in this part of the metro.

NCR already has plans to invest $15 million in upgrades to the 360,000-square-foot Peachtree city facility. At this time, 300 people in logistics there. Forshee said that when the company finishes adding all the new jobs, NCR may be the largest private employer in the county.

"Georgia's thriving business environment and large, multilingual work force will enhance NCR's ability to provide cost-effective service delivery and the world's highest levels of customer satisfaction and solution availability," said NCR's senior vice president Christine Wallace in a recent release.

Jobs In Atlanta Lost

In January of this year Atlanta was ranked as one of the top cities for job group in the nation by Forbes magazine. Using various economic indicators, experts predicted that the metro area would create enough employment opportunities to earn it the fourth spot on the list. Despite the positive forecast, jobs in Atlanta are now being lost and unemployment is one the rise.

During the month of September unemployment in Metro Atlanta rose from 6.2 percent in August to 6.5 percent, accordingly to Georgia’s Department of Labor. This figure has yet to be adjusted for seasonal variations in employment, but the area currently has a jobless rate 0.4 percent higher than the national average.

Between August and September, employers cut 17,200 jobs in Atlanta. Over the last 12 months the metro area has lost somewhere around 33,600 positions. This means that Septembers loss was drastic, accounting for over half of the jobs lost over the course of the last year.

Throughout the nation there were 478,000 new individuals claiming unemployment benefits. According to the experts, an addition of more than 400,000 jobseekers unable to find work means that the labor market is week. The reports have shown figures have been this high since sometime during July.

September’s increase in unemployment in the Atlanta metro area was also significantly higher than the city experienced last year at the same time. There were approximately 44 percent more residents requiring benefits that there was during September of 2007.

According to Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, problems with the Atlanta job market and employment throughout the country started in construction, but has spread to include the manufacturing and trade and services sectors.

Currently Georgia is ranked as the second in the nation for job losses.

Despite the lost jobs, the Georgia Department of Labor says that they have a list of more than 4,000 positions that need to filled. The list can be found, along with help in filling for unemployment benefits, at any of the Departments 53 Career Centers.

AJC to Cut 189 Jobs in Atlanta

One of Georgia's largest newspapers is cutting costs by cutting Atlanta jobs and parts of the newspaper itself.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution announced in July it would cut 189 jobs-about 8 percent of its workforce-and eliminate its geographically-targeted news sections to help cut costs. According to an article by the AJC, the cuts come in the midst of an advertising revenue slump and increasing fuel and newsprint costs.

The jobs that will be cut between August and October include 85 newsroom positions, 58 that are currently filled, and 104 advertising positions. The cuts, which will leave a 350 person news staff, will be negotiated through voluntary buyouts, layoffs and job eliminations.

Atlanta as a whole has been facing job declines in recent months.The AJC also plans to cut positions in some other departments, and currently has a total of 2,300 full-time employees.

"The economic downturn and rising fuel prices have eroded revenues at a time when newspapers were already confronting slumping print advertising," the article notes. "Newspapers have historically built revenue on classified advertising, but those revenues have shrunk dramatically in the face of competition online, by alternatives such as Craigslist.

"The current economic slump has also affected three groups that traditionally advertise heavily in newspapers: real estate, automotive and employment," the article adds.

The newspaper also planned to cut some of its neighborhood sections beginning in August, including the Gwinnett News, NorthSide, CityLife and NorthWest. The paper also will get rid of the Better Health Buyer's Edge sections, which will be included in an expanded Living section on Wednesdays and Sundays.

The newspaper's metro section is expected to expand to cover news in the cut areas. The cost of producing the separate sections has led to a 35 percent increase in costs from last year. In 2007, the AJC cut sections from Atlanta's south metro counties and decreased the paper's circulation area.

The AJC also plans to revamp its advertising department and offer advertising space in print, online and by direct mail. Total readership for the paper's print and online editions has increased 7 percent from last year. The AJC also is planning to spend $30 million for new printing presses at its Gwinnett County production plant.