Economics

Job openings for Georgia and South Carolina in August were released last week. In Georgia, they fell 11 percent but in South Carolina, they fell just 1 percent. There are still over two job openings for every unemployed worker in Georgia and South Carolina. These job openings numbers impacted the Augusta Leading Economic Index which fell 0.9 percent in August, from July. In the local labor market, employment increased by 900 jobs to 244,700 and unemployment remained at 3.3 percent. The labor force shrank by 500 people and earnings fell

October is National Bullying Prevention Month and finally, some good news from the pandemic. Bullying and cyberbullying dropped 30-35 percent as schools shifted to online learning in the spring of 2022. Given that one-fifth of high school students report being bullied each year and 16 percent are cyberbullied, this is a substantial decrease, amounting to about 1 million high schoolers. The negative effects of bullying are depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and behaviors. These harmful effects result in physical, mental, and economic challenges in adulthood for both the bullied and the

  Dr. Rick Franza, Dean of the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he talks about Georgia’s strong economy. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: Economic news lately often seems bleak, but things are a bit different for the state of Georgia. Even after filling the Rainy Day Fund (which allows the state government to keep running during an economic downturn) to its legal limit, we had a surplus of $6.58 billion. What’s the story

Last week, the Institute for Supply Management reported that U.S. manufacturing activity grew at its slowest pace since May 2020. Manufacturing is still expanding (the index stands at 50.9 with anything over 50 indicating expansion); however, the employment part of the index fell from 54.2 to 48.7 indicating contraction. Locally, manufacturing employment has fallen slightly from a recent high of 24,100 in June to 23,850 in August. Nationally, manufacturing makes up 11.9 percent of the U.S. economy and 11.6 percent (2020) in the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area. Manufacturing accounts for