As the 2025 hurricane season gets underway, the first county-level data capturing the labor market impact of Hurricane Helene last September has just become available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Across the 13 Georgia counties of the Central Savannah River Area Regional Commission (CSRA), employment fell between the third quarter of 2024 and the fourth quarter in 6 counties. The largest decline was 1.75% in Lincoln County. Other counties that saw declining employment were Columbia (0.27%), Hancock (0.68%), Jenkins (1.21%), McDuffie (1.17%), and Washington (0.27%). In Georgia, employment increased by 1.07% between the third and fourth quarters, and a further 4 counties (Burke, Jefferson, Richmond, and Wilkes) saw their employment increase but by less than the state average. Just three CSRA counties beat the state average with Glascock County the fastest growing at 5.27%, but this was only 20 jobs in a county with employment averaging less than 400 per month.
Three counties (Glascock, Hancock, and Warren) saw the number of business establishments fall between the third and fourth quarters, although the combined total was just four fewer establishments. A further three counties (Burke, McDuffie, and Richmond) saw establishment growth below the state average.
In terms of wages, no county in the CSRA saw a decline in wages between the third and fourth quarter. Wages in the state of Georgia grew at 6.67% and five counties (Glascock, Hancock, Jefferson, McDuffie, and Richmond) saw wages increase at a rate less than the state average. Five counties (Burke, Columbia, Lincoln, Warren, and Washington) saw a double-digit wage growth with Burke leading the way with a 16% increase.
Overall, the hurricane had a mixed effect on CSRA counties. Relative to state averages, employment suffered the biggest impact, hitting 10 counties compared to 6 for establishments and 5 for wages. Three counties saw employment, establishments, and wages decline relative to the state average: Hancock, McDuffie, and Richmond. Only Taliaferro County did better than the state average across all three measures of labor market vitality.
