Last week, I reported that the unemployment rate in Augusta had risen to 4.1% in July, but what about other measures of the labor market? Employment increased by 500 to exceed 247,000 for the first time. Rising unemployment and more jobs are due to an increase in the labor force of a little over 700 people.
Additionally, average weekly earnings were over $1,000 for the first time since December and average hours worked increased by 24 minutes in July from June. Overall, the three-month moving average Labor Market Index (LMI) increased by 0.1 percent, the fourth consecutive month of growth. It stands at 1.0% higher than July 2023. While there are signs the growth of the national labor market is slowing, that doesn’t seem to be the case locally.
Leading the growth in July was the leisure and hospitality sector which added over 1,000 new jobs compared to June. Employment growth was also seen in health and education services (+86) and financial activities (+100). Sectors losing jobs included professional and business services (-153), government (-133), and warehousing (-100).
