It has been a while since I updated the Augusta Labor Market Index (LMI) because the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis had not updated its website since December. Recently, it did so through April, and the Augusta LMI has increased by 0.5 percent from December and is 1.2 percent higher than April 2024.
The LMI measures labor market vitality through five components: employment, unemployment rate, labor force, average weekly earnings, and average weekly hours worked.
Over the past five months, employment increased by 1,200, and the unemployment rate fell from 4.6% to 4.3%. The labor force contracted by 160 persons. Average weekly earnings increased by $13.50, and hours worked fell by 48 minutes.
The month-to-month change in the LMI can be seen in the chart below. January and March saw essentially no change. There was a large increase in April and a smaller increase in February.
In April, all components of the LMI had positive changes, led by hours worked and employment. This reflects the Masters’ impact already reported in this column. The latest data for April shows a decline of 0.07 percent. Employment, earnings, and hours all fell from April, and the unemployment rate and labor force were essentially unchanged. Overall, the Augusta labor market remained strong in the first five months of 2025, helped by the Masters tournament.
