The national unemployment rate in June hit 4.1%. While still historically low, it represents the first time in 30 months that the unemployment rate exceeded 4.0%, going back to November 2021.
In the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has also risen recently. It hit 4.0% in June, up 0.4 percentage points since March. The last time the unemployment rate was 4.0% was three years ago in June 2021 (see graph below).
Across the counties of the MSA, unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) have increased quite dramatically since April (see chart below). All counties saw unemployment rates increase by at least 1.3 percentage points and Edgefield’s unemployment rate increased by almost 2 percentage points. Burke County has the highest unemployment rate at 6.4% and Columbia County has the lowest at 3.8%. While this may be a reason for concern, the data is not seasonally adjusted and so may just represent the normal increase in unemployment rates at this time of year. Unemployment rates normally increase primarily with school leavers, high school and college, who are just entering the workforce and may still be looking for that first job.
