ATLANTA — It's another sign the economy is recovering from the coronavirus recession: the number of people applying for unemployment benefits dropped by 13,000 last week to 553,000. In Georgia, claims dropped by 12 percent, the lowest level since the pandemic hit last March.
In turn, the job market is also bouncing back, and experts are tracking which companies are staffing up.
According to ZipRecruiter, that includes in-demand industries like grocery stores, pharmacies, health care systems, plus e-commerce, such as delivery and warehouse jobs.
"There is no slowing down in those industries," Julia Pollack, labor economist with ZipRecruiter, said. "They are still posting record numbers of jobs, and at the same time, we're seeing newfound strength in the industries that took a really hard hit. So, those are finally recovering, even the travel industry, restaurants, hotels, we're seeing many of those employers now hold job fairs, they are releasing their hiring freezes and their salary freezes and they are saying we are back to business."
When it comes to Georgia, Pollack says the companies with the most postings on ZipRecruiter include DoorDash, UberEats and Amazon, as well as Emory Healthcare System.
Looking at the numbers, the average number of online job postings on ZipRecruiter for our state has been 437,000 jobs thus far in April, compared to 263,000 pre-pandemic levels in February 2020.
But despite the surge in postings, experts haven't seen the same rush to apply.
"The interesting thing is that during the pandemic, job postings fell much more quickly than job search activity and job applications, but now we're in the opposite situation where employers are rushing back into the labor market, and job seekers are a little slower to come back," Pollack said. "Now part of that is because we are still in a pandemic, and there are still many many barriers to returning to work."
Pollack said the vaccine rollout, schools reopening, and childcare considerations are just a few of the issues that may be holding back some from returning to the workforce.
"And then of course, many people are not under enormous financial pressure to look for a job right now," she said. "Earnings and income actually rose for many people during this process because there's a huge amount of fiscal support given the economy that has kept spending up, it's kept many businesses alive, but right now it also means that job seekers are not under particular duress, to take the very first offer. They can hold out for that remote job, they really want to offer the job with attractive pay and benefits."
11Alive reached out to Emory Healthcare regarding available positions within the healthcare system. According to a spokesperson, the ongoing pandemic means Emory Healthcare is "recruiting and hiring for many staff positions to support our patient care mission."
The most in-demand health care jobs include: nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, medical assistants, medical technicians and environmental services.
There is also increased demand for positions in the intensive care units (ICUs), emergency rooms, medical and surgical inpatient hospital units, environmental services and food and nutrition. For more information on job postings at Emory Healthcare, visit their Careers site here.