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Published Thursday, November 19, 2009 in Local
Jobless rate rises; many job seekers 'giving up'
By Jeff Bishop
The Newnan Times-Herald
Initial unemployment claims in Coweta County continued their roller-coaster ride in October, zipping back up to 1,031 after falling into the triple digits a month earlier.
The number of initial unemployment claims is still down from the 1,438 peak in July 2009, but up significantly from the 686 initial claims filed one year ago. In September 2009 there were 909 initial unemployment claims filed.
The number of initial unemployment claims has jumped 13 percent between September and October 2009. Between last October and this October the number of claims has increased 50 percent. There were 1,031 claims filed in August 2009.
Based on the most recently available data, manufacturing employment has been hit hard in Coweta County this year. Employment in manufacturing decreased by 11 percent between 2008 and 2009. The sectors showing the largest losses were non-metallic minerals (down 124 jobs), fabricated metals (down 88 jobs), and plastic and rubber products (down 46 jobs). Big local losses in 2009 -- which are not reflected in these numbers -- include the closing of the Rite-Aid distribution facility, the bankruptcy of Brown Steel, and a fire at the LTI plant.
Marche Boykin, director of the Goodwill Career Center in Newnan, told the Newnan-Peachtree City Area Employer Committee Wednesday morning that with unemployment continuing to hover in the double digits, it looks like many people are just "giving up."
"Our traffic has slowed down considerably," said Boykin, referring to Goodwill's Career Center in Shenandoah Plaza on Bullsboro Drive. The center helps local job seekers prepare resumes, contact prospective employers, and hone their interviewing skills.
"They're giving up. They're exhausted," she said.
Boykin said that workshops that used to attract scores of people now only bring in "seven or eight."
"I think a lot of them are just not willing to put in the work it takes" to find a job, she said.
When job seekers are told that a resume training course may take up to two hours, some of them decide to skip it, she said.
"I was told by someone the other day, 'I've got something to do today. I'm going to send my grandmother back in here to do this stuff,'" she said.
With unemployment benefits getting extension after extension, some of the unemployed are undoubtedly working the system, some of the committee members said. That sometimes means making only token efforts at getting new employment.
"Some of the resumes I'm seeing are absolutely bizarre," said board member Judith Carr. "One applicant talked about her foster children. Another one put her birthday as the first thing on the resume."
She said it's difficult to hire someone when they seem so out of touch.
"It makes me wonder about what other skills they may be out of touch on," she said.
Committee members said that people are often applying for jobs they aren't even remotely qualified for. It's hard to tell whether they're doing so out of desperation, or simply to fulfill expectations that they actively seek work.
"I'm seeing more lying on applications than I've ever seen before," said Carr.
The Associated Press reported this week that the state's unemployment fund is nearly depleted and a federal loan will likely be needed by next month.
A decision on requesting a loan from the U.S. Department of Labor will be made by mid-December, Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said.
"I am just trying to get us through 2009," Thurmond said.
While money is still trickling into the fund from employer payments, the big numbers are discouraging.
The trust fund, which started November with $138.9 million, has been averaging $147.2 million a month in payments to jobless Georgians.
Comment On This Story
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Recently unemployed after 35 years of continuous service working days,nights,holidays,sick,in the heat of summer and freezing cold in winter.When you go to apply for a job knowing you can do it and they won't even take your application because you don't meet their criteria to the the tee.Yes it gets discouraging.Not to give up though.The majority voted for CHANGE.CONGRATULATIONS YOUR GETTING IT.
Posted by Rick at 5:45 PM
I'm not surprised that some people are riding the system. However, there are those out there who do want work but look worse on paper than they actually are as an employee. And for some, there are minimum salary requirements. When you have a family of 4, you can't work on $9.00/hour.
Posted by Anonymous at 12:58 PM
did any one ever consider that many are applyingfor jobs they aren't qualified for since the jobs they might be qualified for are non existent or in China. A lot of construction is not out there. All the textile work is in China, Srilanka, Bangladesh, or Mexico. The people have to show an effort to receive payment. Perhaps ms Carr needs to look in the work force rather than on the government dole.
Posted by disgusted at 1:47 AM
Until manufacturing is returned to the UsA you may want to consider commuting to China , Indodesia, Philipines, Mexico or Costa Rica. Companies left the USA to avoid the EPA , union wages and safety . All the Obama groupies should urge el presidente to fulfil his campaign promise of bringing jobs home to America. It would be great to see temp services disappear and a return to the original hiring practices by company personnel .When the trains run through Newnan look at all the cargo boxes with Chinese companies names on them and sooner or later it'll will come to you why there aren't that many jobs anymore.
Posted by Twocrows at 1:23 AM
“just not willing to put in the work it takes” is nothing more than pandering and condescension to business leaders. Preaching to the choir seems common in the business community here.
Any business person with a lick of sense has or continues to scale back by cutting jobs and costs and those businesses without sense are being forced to scale back, cut jobs and costs BECAUSE THERE IS NOT ENOUGH BUSINESS.
This public mis-characterization is meant to serve the purposes of killing or slowing the unemployment program.
It appropriate that many of the commentators are are unemployed are upset at being called QUITTERS!
Just be honest about wanting to stop or slow unemployment benefits to private profits and socialize the costs of poor management.
Clearly, the committee members and their speakers obviously are not willing to do the hard work it takes work on sound solutions and provide the necessary investment.
Posted by turfkiller at 11:18 PM
While I have become "newly" and "temporarily" unemployed, it seems to me the unemployment condition is the same all over the United States. However, what boggles my mind is how much we are parading the errored unemployment figures. These figures DO NOT take into account all the people who have dropped off the rolls, having exhausted their benefits, yet are still unemployed. There has GOT to be a solution for all the reasons (i.e. baby boomers and retirement ages hitting peaks, and jobs being farmed out to other countries) that folks remain jobless. It's a sad commentary that the greatest nation in the world can not provide a solution to the problem of unemployment for its own citizens. I may be frustrated, but I'm not down yet. How about incentives for companies hiring only American citizens and not sending the jobs overseas? How about incentives for some kind of job sharing using 30 hours as full time enabling companies to hire more workers with benefits. Come on, people, THINK!
Posted by Alice Magnan at 8:25 PM
Do people have a choice to "give up" job seeking? How do people pay bills and eat? I don't think people can just say
"I give up" and not job search anymore. People need money to live.
Posted by Fox at 8:04 PM
It is not correct to say people are giving up. I have a solid work experience, not to much, not to little and I have not even received one phone call. I have a great resume and a great cover letter. There just simply aren't any jobs out there.
Posted by Citizen at 7:23 PM
Unfortunately, the more experience you have the less likely you are to find a job. Experience = higher pay. Those with less experience will be offered the job first. Hang in there. You can rest assured that all will be included in my prayers. Good luck!
Posted by simplyput at 5:38 PM
My husband spends hours every night (except Friday & Saturday) scouring job boards. We have both send out dozens of resumes. He has a BA, and excellent work history, I have excellent work history in customer service, collections, and procurement management, we have an excellent credit history. With all that we still have minimal responses to the resumes and applications we've sent out. When qualified people like us can't find work what hope is there for those with less qualifications? Can there be little wonder why people are giving up?
Posted by not giving up at 4:54 PM
Job Hunting is the worse experience I have ever experienced lately and I am a 53yr old woman.
I hate it !!! I have been accused of have domestic violence in my background and I live with just my dog, go figue??, told to go back to a field I haven't been in for 20 yrs.,thrown out and fell down the stairs and no one came out to see if I was ok. When I called the main office all I was told that they would pass the message on and then they hung up on me when asking to speak to a supervisor.
Another job, sent me to the north side of Atlanta from the south side, to later be told they were not hiring.
I call and they tell me that the contact person is in a meeting and to wait for a call that never comes.
They have been rude, condensending, contemptous and down right ugly.
So I can understand why people are giving up. I gave up too!!
I lost my job and been out of work since April 2008. I am beginning to hate corporate America anyway.
Posted by Gina at 2:32 PM
I have been unemployed for over a year. I am not giving up. I have applied for so many jobs that I have lost count. I am educated and experienced. I have a good resume and write cover letters. It is discouraging, but most of us are not giving up.
Posted by TJ at 12:37 PM
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"Quitters?"
2/7/2010
Link To This Comment
How many jobs does one have to apply for and how many no responses or sorry, we decided to go with someone else does one have to hear before they just chuck it and go do something more rewarding with their time. The living wage jobs are no longer in this country. All that's left is "service" jobs (low pay) and even they won't hire you. Even WM is laying off!!
Posted by Sage at 2:38 AM