Job growth slows

Job

growth slows

State Labor

Commissioner Michael Thurmond said this week that the rate of annualized

job growth in the metro Atlanta area slowed to 1.8 percent in April, down

from 4.9 percent when compared with the same period a year ago.

Metro Atlanta

added 39,600 new jobs from April 2000 to April 2001, down from 103,000

from April 1999 to April 2000.

Meanwhile,

the annualized rate of job growth in the state slowed to 2.1 percent in

April, down from 3.8 percent when compared with the same period a year

ago. Georgia added 81,800 new jobs from April 2000 to April 2001, down

from 145,600 from April 1999 to April 2000.

"This

is further evidence that our state's economy continues to cool,"

Thurmond said. "Layoffs are spreading across the economy in several

job sectors, such as technology, manufacturing, and retail trade."

While metro

Atlanta's April unemployment rate has risen slightly to 2.9 percent in

the past year, up from 2.8 percent in April 2000, it was down from 3.1

percent in March.

In Fulton County,

the unemployment rate remained unchanged from March's rate of 3.6 percent.

Labor Department

officials said the slight one-month drop in Atlanta was due to increased

employment among retail trade and service industry workers, plus there

were fewer new job seekers entering the labor market.

The unemployment

rate only tracks individuals who are unemployed but actively seeking employment.

The state's

unemployment rate has averaged 3.7 percent for the past 12 months, including

March. It declined slightly to 3.5 percent in April, the same as April

2000.