There was mixed economic news at the national level last week. The Bureau of Economic Analysis announced that real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 0.3% in the first quarter. The decline in economic activity was driven by imports, which increased by 41% from the fourth quarter of 2024. Imports are subtracted from GDP because they represent expenditures by US residents on goods and services from overseas. Much of these imports ended up in firms’ inventory as they tried to get ahead of expected tariffs.
We won’t get local GDP information until the end of 2026, not much use for understanding the state of the local economy or for business planning. Fortunately, labor market information is timelier at the national and local levels. Last Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that April nonfarm payroll employment increased by 177,000 nationally and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.2%. We will get local employment data by the end of the month.
In the first quarter, the Labor Market Index (LMI) for Georgia decreased by 0.2 percent over the first quarter of 2025. Declines were seen in three components, with two components remaining unchanged. Employment fell by almost 5,000, the labor force fell by 25,000, and average weekly earnings fell by $5.20. Hours worked and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 34.5 hours and 3.6% respectively.
South Carolina fared much better in the first quarter, with the LMI increasing by 0.3%. Improvements were seen in all the LMI components. Employment increased by 16,000, unemployment fell by 0.3 percentage points to 4.1%, and the labor force increased by 1,400. Average weekly earnings increased by $20.30, and hours worked increased by 12 minutes.
Overall, the economic contradictory data reflect the uncertainty in the economy at the moment.
