On Friday, August 2nd, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that U.S. employment increased by 114,000 in July. This represents a slowdown in job generation over the last four years. The slowdown in employment growth hit stock hard, but raised the prospect of an interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s September meeting.
While July employment numbers are not yet available for the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area, employment growth has been static in the last six months. After increasing from 244,000 in July 2023 to 246,200 in November 2023, employment in June 2024 remained at 246,200.
Nationally, employment growth was seen in health care (+55,000), construction (+25,000), and transportation and warehousing (+14,000). Locally, education and health services have seen employment increase by over one thousand since March. However, local construction employment has not reflected the national trend with employment in mining, logging, and construction being essentially unchanged since February. Transportation, warehousing, and utilities have seen a small increase in employment locally, up 250 since January. An interest rate cut would be welcome news for the local economy.
