Tennessee, Georgia rank among top 10 states for new job listings
Aug. 16—Georgia and Tennessee are among the 10 best states in the nation to find a job, according to a new study by the online job listing website Career Builder.
Although employment remains below its pre-pandemic peak, jobs continued to be added over the past year since the COVID-19 outbreak shut down much of the economy. Career Builder said in a new study of labor markets across the country that job seekers are likely to have an easier time finding a job in some states, including Georgia and Tennessee where the number of open jobs is higher compared to the number of unemployed persons looking for work in the state.
Georgia ranked as the third best state to find a job and the best state if you don't want to head north to the Dakotas. North and South Dakota ranked No. 1 and 2 in the Career Builders' job market assessment, but among the 50 states, Georgia had the third-highest share of jobs open compared to the number of persons who are unemployed.
There are 211,717 people looking for work in Georgia in the past month, but Career Builder listed 14,364 Georgia jobs on its website in the past month alone (6.78 per 100 people), so Career Builders projects unemployment is likely to trend lower in Georgia.
In June, the most recent month for which data is available, the unemployment rate in Georgia fell to 4% and was even lower in four Northwest Georgia counties near Chattanooga. Unemployment averaged 4.9% in June in Tennessee, which was well below the 5.9% U.S. rate for the same month.
The Career Builders study ranked Tennessee No. 10 among the 50 states for its job growth. The study found warehouse jobs are especially in high demand right now in Tennessee. Career Builders said it had 635 warehouse job openings posted in Tennessee among the 7,585 jobs it listed in Tennessee last month.
Last week, the grocery chain Food City conducted job fairs to try to fill 1,000 job openings at its supermarkets and warehouses in East Tennessee, North Georgia and Southwest Virginia. The open jobs, which Food City says it is still trying to fill at both stores and distribution centers, include both entry-level positions and experienced skilled jobs such as meat cutters, cake decorators, and retail management, as well as various warehousing and distribution positions, including truck drivers.
Food City President Steve Smith said retailers are trying to hire additional workers as school resumes and students are not able to work as many hours each week. But Smith said Food City is also growing with new and remodeled stores.
"2022 also promises to be an exciting year for our company, with four stores planned in new markets for our company, along with three replacement stores, two expansion/remodels and a number of new décor package installs," he said.
Grocery stores have remained busy during the pandemic as many people are eating out less often and cooking more at home.
Ingo Winze, president of Local Market Monitor, said the job market in the restaurant and other service industries may be challenged by the resurgence in COVID-19 cases from the delta variant.
"In some sectors of the economy, like construction and finance, jobs are already above pre-pandemic levels," he said. "But 1 million (jobs) are still missing in healthcare/education and 1 million at restaurantsAs long as the pandemic continues, businesses like restaurants and tourism will see fewer visitors and companies will be reluctant to hire people who are unvaccinated."
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340
