The Georgia Department of Labor announced that the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) unemployment rate fell to 3.2% in November. However, as the news release stated, unemployment rates normally decline in November as the economy enters the holiday season. After seasonal adjustment to take account of this known trend, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis calculates the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to be 3.4%, up from 3.3% in October. This is the first seasonally adjusted increase in the unemployment rate since February 2022.
There was some good labor market news as total employment increased by 1,300 jobs (after seasonal adjustment) on a strong holiday season. Employment in the Augusta MSA stands just 600 jobs below the pre-pandemic peak. Hopefully, we will see a full recovery in the next few months.
Other labor market data was not so positive. The labor force fell by 400 people and hours worked decreased to 34.2 hours per week from 34.9 in October. Average weekly earnings decreased to $905.96 from $928.00 in October and $915.63 in November 2022. This suggests that the jobs added in November are paying less than average and that overall wage pressures may be weakening.
Altogether, the Augusta Labor Market Index declines 0.3 percentage points in November but it is still 0.5 percentage points higher than last year.
