How much do employment agencies generally charge the job-seeker for a permanent placement?

typically nothing unless you are an executive/professional paying a headhunter, and even then, who pays is part of the negotiation....

I have never been charged anything.

Nothing at all. It is the employers who pay for the employee to be located.

3% of your yearly earnings

the last time i heard, and it was quite a while ago was 15 percent of what you would make gross for 1 year.

I have an agency in Macon, GA, USA.

We don't charge job seekers anything. Most US companies charge the employers and not the job seekers.

Generally the employer pays the fee example if you are getting paid $7.00 an hour the employment agency is billing the company you are working at $8.00 to $9.00 an hour out of this they pay all expenses to have you as the employee such as the workers compensation insurance etc...That is also why the contract with these companies doesn't allow you to actually go permanent with a company for 90 day or 360 hours to be paid at the X rate that the employment agency is to make off your working . I hope this helps you to understand how this service works. Also keep in mind while you are working with the agency you probably will not receive any holiday paid days off. Even if the company you are working at is closed and their employees are getting the holiday off with pay You are still not an employee of them and generally employment agencies do not follow this practice

They don't charge the job-seeker, then charger the employer

usually the company pays that fee... I've never seen the actual person pay it..