All of Atlanta’s largest counties post job declines for 2020

The six largest counties in the Atlanta metropolitan region recorded net job losses for the year 2020, according to information just release by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The six counties include Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton, and Gwinnett. Each of the six counties had average annual employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2019.

Clayton County suffered the largest percentage loss of its jobs base in 2020 with a net loss of almost 10 percent of its jobs. This compares to losses of 6 percent for Fulton County, the state’s largest county by employment. In contrast, Forsyth County recorded a net loss of 3 percent of its jobs in 2020.

Statewide, Georgia saw a net loss of 181,542 jobs in 2020, which translates as a 4 percent decline in jobs as losses in the first half of 2020 were only partially recovered in the second half of the year.

 

Job losses/gain for largest counties in the Atlanta metro area, 2020

Clayton County – 1^st half 2020 = -28,507. 2^nd half 2020 = 16,143. Calendar year = -12,364

Cobb County – 1^st half 2020 = -39,638. 2^nd half 2020 = 24.643. Calendar year = -14,995

DeKalb County – 1^st half 2020 = -26,814. 2^nd half 2020 = 11,609. Calendar year = -15,205

Forsyth County – 1^st half 2020 = -4,425. 2^nd half 2020 = 2,101. Calendar year = -2,324

Fulton County – 1^st half 2020 = -109,812. 2^nd half 2020 = 50.960. Calendar year = -58,852

Gwinnett County – 1^st half 2020 = -32,561. 2^nd half 2020 = 16,490. Calendar year = -16,071

 

Average Weekly Wage

In the fourth quarter of 2020, Fulton County experienced the highest average weekly wage at $1,707, while Forsyth County had the lowest at $1,135. All counties reported increases in average weekly wage as compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. Increases in average weekly wages reflect employment declines combined with wage increases. 

Total Wages Paid

In terms of total payrolls, Clayton County saw the total payrolls of its employers decline by 4 percent as companies laid off workers in the first half of 2020. Clayton County was the only county among the six large counties in the Atlanta metro area that recorded a gross payroll decline over the year.

Additional information for Georgia’s county-level employment in 2020 will be available from BLS at a later date.

Atlanta job market: Quick to lose jobs but some counties are slow to recover

 

After losing more than 5 percent of its jobs in 2020, the Atlanta metro job market is showing signs of only a slow recovery. Through March 2021, nonfarm jobs in the Atlanta metro area stood at 2,728,100, before seasonal adjustment, compared to 2,901,200 at the end of 2019.

In 2020, the metro area lost 159,600 jobs, of which 149,300 were in the private sector with the remainder being decreases in government employment.

Over the first three months of 2021, the metro area lost another 13,500 jobs. While it is not unusual to see job losses in the post-Christmas season, the losses in the first quarter of 2021 were greater than for the comparable period in 2019 when the Atlanta metro area posted a net job loss of 6,500 jobs between January and March.

Because losses are expected during certain times of the year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a seasonally adjusted report as well, but the comparison with 2019 remains the same. In the first three months of 2021, BLS reported that the Atlanta metro area saw a net job gain of 23,800 jobs after seasonal adjustment, but this was down from the 32,900 job gain for the same period in 2019.

Shifts in the Atlanta job market varies by county

While jobs data tend to focus on the Atlanta metro area as a whole and most jobs data can only be measured at the metro area level, within the Atlanta metro area, the jobs picture for the first quarter of 2021 does vary considerably.

There is no current data that breaks out jobs data by county for the first quarter of the year, but labor force numbers produced by a separate BLS survey reveals that the diversity of job growth in some of the largest and fastest growing counties that comprise the Atlanta metro area.

Gwinnett County recorded an increase of nearly 3,600 in its labor force over the first three months of the year (before seasonal adjustment), while Cherokee and Forsyth counties have posted labor force increases of around 1,400 each.

In contrast, Clayton County is showing a decline of nearly 1,300 in its labor force, while DeKalb County’s labor force fell by 577 and Fulton County (the largest county in the state) recorded a drop of 245 in its labor force.

The changes highlight the fact that the metro area is not growing uniformly but that some of the largest growth is occurring outside the traditional core Atlanta counties of Fulton and DeKalb.

Moving forward, this represents a shift in the economic development fortunes of the various Atlanta-area counties, and if it continues, strengthens the case for looking not at the Atlanta metro area as a single region but understanding how counties are taking different economic growth patterns.

Comparisons with statewide figures

Even though the Atlanta metro area represents more than 60 percent of the state’s job market, the state is posting a much better recovery than the Atlanta area.

After seasonal adjustment, Georgia showed a gain of 36,200 jobs in the first three months of 2021. This compares to a gain of 30,200 jobs for the same time period in 2019.

Statewide, before seasonal adjustment, Georgia added 200 manufacturing jobs in the first quarter of 2021 even as the Atlanta metro area lost 1,700 manufacturing positions. Jobs in durable manufacturing in the state dropped by 1,400 but were offset by a 1,600 job rise in nondurable manufacturing facilities. For the Atlanta metro area, durable manufacturing jobs dropped by 700 with another 1,000-job loss in nondurable manufacturing.

In service-providing industries, the Atlanta metro area accounted for 73 percent of the state’s net job losses in the first quarter. Georgia saw a loss of 19,700 jobs in the first quarter of 2021, before seasonal adjustment, compared to a loss of 14,400 jobs in the Atlanta metro area.

Pandemic-related job losses concentrated in Georgia’s 11 largest counties

All of Georgia’s 11 largest counties, as measured by employment size, saw significant drops over the first six months of 2020. Combined, the 11 counties recorded a net job decline of 10.2%. (-278,502 jobs). 

From June 2019 to June 2020, employment in the 11 counties dropped by 8.8% as a 1.6% increase in employment during the second half of 2019 was more than offset by the sharp declines in the first half of 2020. At the end of June, the 11 counties recorded a combined jobs total of 2,438,044, about the same level as at the end of June 2015. 

The job losses over the first half of 2020 were greater in those 11 largest counties than in the other 148 counties in the state. Georgia’s 148 other counties saw jobs decline by 6% (-112,924) in the first six months of 2020. Over the past 12 months, the 148 counties together reported job declines of 4.3% (-78,656). 

Statewide, Georgia recorded a drop of 8.5% (-391,426) jobs in the first six months of 2020 after a 1.7% increase (77,209 jobs) in the last six months of 2019. As of June, the state recorded a total of 4,196,040 jobs. 

County-level employment for Georgia’s 11 largest counties 

Clayton County, in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA, MSA, recorded the largest drop over the first six months of 2020, down 22.7%; a loss of 28,498 jobs. The county is home to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and a portion of the county’s private sector employment is tied to the travel industry, which has felt much of the impact of travel restrictions related to the pandemic.

Forsyth County, a fast-growing suburban county located north of Atlanta and also in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA, MSA, recorded the small employment percentage decline at 5.3%, a loss of 4,163 jobs. 

Job losses were not confined to large counties in the Atlanta area. Chatham County, part of the Savannah, GA, metropolitan statistical area, recorded a 9.6% net loss (-15,673) in the first half of 2020. 

Richmond County, part of the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC, MSA, reported a 7.8% loss (-8.274). In the Columbus, GA-AL MSA, Muscogee County showed a loss of 6.7% (-6,535), and in the Macon-Bibb County, GA, MSA, Bibb County reported a loss of 7.2% (-6,007). 

Weekly wages 

The average weekly wage in the 11 counties declined by 1.2% over the first six months of 2020 to $1059.91. The overall decline was less than for the state as a whole, which saw the average weekly wage dropping by 1.3% to $1075. 

Over the 12 months ending in June, total payrolls in Georgia declined by 4% ($2.4 billion).

Employment information comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program that publishes a quarterly count of employment and wages reported by employers covering more than 95 percent of U.S. jobs, available at the county, MSA, state and national levels by industry. Employment and average weekly wage data in Georgia were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and efforts to contain it. Percentage may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

Georgia county records lowest broadband internet access in the nation

Percentage of households in Georgia with broadband internet subscriptions, 2017

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Increasingly, having access to high-speed broadband is a necessity for families and businesses looking to strive in the modern world. While many families depend on cellphones, broadband internet is important to access more complicated services that involve longer forms and more complex information.

New information from the U.S. Census Bureau finds that the percentage of households in Georgia with access a broadband internet subscription varies widely with metro counties and more affluent counties showing far higher rates than more rural counties and counties with lower income households in Georgia.

Of the 159 counties in Georgia, 17 counties show household broadband internet subscription rates below 50%, while only 55 of the 159 counties showed rates above 70%.

Forsyth and Cherokee counties both recorded household broadband internet subscription rates above 90%. At the other end of the spectrum, Telfair and Wheeler counties recorded household broadband internet subscription rates of less than 25%.

At 24.9%, Telfair County has recorded the nation's lowest broadband subscription rate for counties with a population of more than 10,000 or more.

The 2013-2017 American Community Survey (ACS) estimates that nationally, 78% of households subscribe to the internet, but households in both rural and lower-income counties trail the national average by 13 points.

The Census Bureau defines broadband internet subscriptions as any service that is capable of delivering faster speeds than “dial up” — no longer used by most, but still used by less than 1 percent of households nationally.

Households without broadband internet connections are less able to fully participate in American society, whether that means reaching educational sources or conducting job searches.

Access to a broadband internet connection is becoming crucial, not only to access information but to interact with government agencies, as government agencies are requiring citizens to access their services via websites that are replacing local offices as the primary source of information and support.

As governments look to cut costs, they are looking to websites to provide services.

In Georgia, this includes services to lower income families including applying for Medical Assistance, Food Stamps (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-SNAP), PeachCare for Kids, Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

All of these services are accessed through the online Georgia Gateway, the home of Georgia's eligibility determination system for a number of social benefit programs.

With the Georgia General Assembly planning to focus on rural issues in their upcoming 2019 session, hopefully broadband internet access will be one of their top topics next year.