New data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows
that after seven years, Georgia workforce has climbed out of the recession but
still has a long way to go to regain its pre-recession levels.
BLS is reporting that Georgia’s employment-population
ratio for 2016 was 59.0% as compared to the nation’s ratio of 59.7%. This is
the best report for the state since 2009.
Prior to the last recession, Georgia routinely exceeded
the employment-population ratio of the nation, but this all ended in 2009 when the
state’s ratio fell to 59.1%.
It has taken Georgia from 2009 to 2016 to regain that
level of employment.
Chart 1. Employment-Population Ratio, U.S. and Georgia,
Annual Average 2000-2016
BLS defines the employment-population ratio simply as “the
proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population aged 16 years and over
that is employed.” It is widely regarded as the best gauge of workforce
employment.
In 2016, Nebraska posted the highest ratio at 69.2%,
while West Virginia saw the lowest ratio among states at 50.0%.
For Georgia, the increase from 2015 to 2016 was a
statistically significant gain of 1.1 percentage points.
The gain represents an increase of 112,000 in the state’s
population, with 154,000 more people employed and 21,000 fewer people listed as
officially unemployed.
Georgia’s best year was in 2000 when the ratio stood at
66.8%.
Average State
Unemployment Rate Declines
At 5.4%, Georgia’s average unemployment rate remains
above the U.S. average of 4.9%. This was still an improvement from 2015’s
numbers when the state posted an average rate of 6.0%.
In 2016, New Mexico recorded the highest average unemployment
rate at 6.7%, while Hawaii had the lowest average rate at 3.0%.
Private Sector
Wages Show Growth
As employment recovers, wages in Georgia are recovering also.
In December 2016, the average nonagricultural wage in the
private sector in Georgia stood at $24.72 per hour, an increase of $3.35 over
the same time period in 2009.
Wage growth in the state has equaled the pace set nationally.
In December 2016, the national private sector average wage stood at $25.89 per
hour.
Even accounting for inflation, since December 2009,
average hourly wages in Georgia have risen by 15.7% while consumer prices have
increased an average of 11.8%.