The Georgia labor department recently reported that metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate has dropped from 7.1 percent to 6.9 percent this past February.
The new and updated number is based on the decreased amount of workers laid off in January and the drop in new unemployment claims, not on the increase of new job opportunities, according to the U.S. Labor Department.
“It’s not a fair insight for recent graduates because they’re hopeful about getting jobs once they graduate,” senior finance major Ana Barrientos, who will be graduating in December said. “I know I won’t find my ideal job once I graduate because a lot of places aren’t hiring or don’t have room for it.”
Georgia State senior Lindsay Wilson said that the unemployment rate dropping sounds like a good thing but people also have to look at other factors that are going on in the city besides the statistic.
“It’ll definitely be a struggle,” Wilson said. “People I know who have already graduated have had a hard time finding a job they really want.”
Additionally, the Labor Department reported that the city lost 1,900 seasonal jobs in February mostly in the industries of leisure and hospitality and retail trade.
Despite recent drops in employment, overall numbers in available job opportunities have increased by 42,600 from 2,366,400 since last February, according to the Labor Department.
Some industries that have seen an increase in jobs include financial services, education and health services and professional and business services.
“Economics is a very weird thing. Even though it’s reliable you have to look at other aspects to make a better judgment [about the workforce],” freshman business marketing major Felistas Mhute said. “[Recent graduates] still have to make sure they have the right credentials too, to be more desirable.”
