Job seekers lineup to attend a job fair. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)JOB INTERVIEW HELPThe Georgia Department of Labor will host another of its "Ask Ted" (Type, Explore, Discover) online chats next Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on its website www.dol.state.ga.us.The 90-minute chat will focus on how to answer the difficult questions employers ask during job interviews, avoid the common mistakes made by job seekers during interviews and help job seekers have successful interviews in person, over the phone or online. A panel of experts will provide information on a wide variety of resources available to help job seekers before, during and after job interviews.People who wish to submit questions in advance to be answered during the chat may do so on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/GeorgiaDOL or Twitter at @GeorgiaDOL.
Unemployment in Tennessee fell to the lowest level in nearly four years last month with the addition of more than 50,000 jobs in the Volunteer State over the past year.
Tennessee's jobless rate in February declined another two-tenths of a percent to 8 percent -- the lowest level since November 2008 and three-tenths of a percent below the U.S. rate. The state job market was buoyed by the addition of 8,400 more jobs in construction, 4,700 more jobs in manufacturing and 16,800 more jobs in professional and business services.
"The business survey data shows strong year-over-year growth," University of Tennessee Economist Bill Fox said in an assessment of the data released Thursday. "The monthly data also show reasonable increases in health care, durable manufacturing and temporary employment agencies."
The improving job market reflects signs of an improving economy more than two years after what economists marked as end of the worst downturn since the 1930s.
In Georgia, the jobless rate declined in February for the seventh consecutive month, falling to 9.1 percent. A year ago, Georgia's unemployment rate was 9.9 percent.
"February's economic data is encouraging," Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said in a report released Thursday. "After back-to-back quarters of declining unemployment and continued job creation, it looks like Georgia's businesses are trending toward a comeback."
Georgia added 15,600 jobs in February and 41,800 jobs in the past year. Manufacturing jobs, which have declined over most of the past three decades, grew by 4,200 in the past year across the Peach State.
"Manufacturing has always been a staple of Georgia's economy and it was hit hard during this recession," Butler said. "Watching employment in the manufacturing field rise is very encouraging."
Despite the drop in unemployment last month, the jobless rate remains more than a third higher than what it was prior to the Great Recession, and the number of long-term unemployed remains near historic highs.
Melva Atta-Acquah, 54, lost her job with the Hamiton County corrections program after 14 years last June and has worked only a limited part-time job since. Atta-Acquah was among five employees who lost their jobs last year when the county phased out its monitoring of individuals on house arrest programs.
"The job market is still tough," she said while looking for work this week at the Tennessee Career Center in the Eastgate Town Center. "My house is in foreclosure, my car note is behind and it's a real struggle."