After hitting a record high in March 2024, employment in the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) fell to 246,500 in April. This represents just a 0.04 percent decrease and could be described as a rounding error.
Not surprisingly, given the small change in overall employment, many sectors saw no change in employment levels, including, financial activities, government, professional and business services, transportation and utilities, and wholesale trade.
The big mover and shaker was education and health services, with employment increasing by 665 in this sector. While it took until last month for overall employment to surpass its pre-covid peak, education and health services surpassed its pre-covid peak in April 2022. Since then, this sector has increased employment by 3,155 (or 8.7%).
There have been many news stories recently about new manufacturing facilities coming to Augusta, but the current ones have also increased their employment. Manufacturing employment increased by 235 in April from March. Manufacturing employment has been above pre-pandemic levels since November 2021, peaking at 24,935 in January 2023. Employment subsequently fell a little through December 2023, but has since recorded four consecutive months of employment growth.
