Macon’s Jobless Rate Declines, Good Sign for Job Seekers

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Jobs. Everyone wants one and many are having trouble finding one.

Even though the job market may seem tough to break into, it is picking up here in Middle Georgia.

“I come here everyday, just pretty much putting out applications,” Jeremiah Johnson Senior said.

For Johnson, finding a job is a job. He says it’s difficult for him to get hired because of his disability, but he’s not letting it hold him back. He spends hours at the Georgia Department of Labor sending out resumes and applications.

“Basically just an all around search, whatever I can get my hands into.”

Dozens of job seekers pack the resource center and hope the applications they sent out will lead to employment. They say it is not easy to break into the job market, but new numbers release Thursday from the Georgia Department of Labor say unemployment is going down in Macon.

The unemployment rate in Macon declined to 9.1 percent in September, down five-tenths of a percentage point from a revised 9.6 percent in August.

Career Services manager Bob Thompson says new businesses and stores preparing for the upcoming holiday season are just a couple of factors for the rise in employment.

“I think we’re a lot better shape right now than we were this time say a year ago, even maybe a year and half ago, two years ago,” Thompson said. “I think things are really looking up for this area.”

And that’s good news for Johnson who says he won’t give up on the job hunt.