The Georgia Department of Labor gave the Savannah metro area an early Christmas present with last week’s release of estimates for local payroll employment.
Now, I’ll be the first to point out that many hardworking Savannahians are still struggling in this slow recovery from the deep recession. That recession officially ended more than three years ago, but many economic measures remain below their peaks of 2007 and 2008.
That’s especially true for employment.
Nevertheless, we should all be thankful that we’re in the midst of a significant rebound in payroll jobs. I touched briefly on some of this data in my column on Sunday, but let’s look a little more deeply at the data today.
Payroll employment for the Savannah metro area (Chatham, Effingham and Bryan counties) was estimated at 154,800 in November. That’s up 4,700 — an impressive 3.1 percent — from November 2011.
The private sector added jobs at a 3.5 percent rate over the last year, an even healthier development.
Federal government employment at the local level actually fell 3.1 percent over the last 12 months, while state and local governments showed modest growth. But all that adds up to only a .9 percent increase in public sector employment — slower than the rate of population growth.
The private sector job gains over the past year were broad-based. Among the notable numbers are the 2.8 percent increase in manufacturing, the 5.1 percent increase in leisure and hospitality and the 3.7 percent gain in the sector that includes trade, transportation and utilities.
Not all the data was so good.
Financial activities employed 5,000 workers in November — the same number as in 2011.
The sector that includes construction lost another 100 jobs over the past year.
But we should begin adding construction jobs in 2013 with the housing recovery taking hold. As banks and other financial institutions get healthier, we should see that sector adding jobs next year, too.
But what about the fiscal cliff?
If all the scheduled tax increases and spending cuts go into effect after Jan. 1, we will certainly see a hard hit to the national economy. And we’ll feel that hit locally.
But, as has been discussed a few times here in Exchange in 2012, employment is a lagging indicator of economic conditions. The healthy investments we’ve seen in recent months in new projects around town will continue to produce jobs well into the new year, even if austerity measures shock the economy back into recession.
I don’t know if it’s worth tying a bow around the current employment news, but it’s better than a lump of coal.
City Talk appears every Sunday and Tuesday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net and http://www.billdawers.com. Send mail to 10 East 32nd St., Savannah, GA 31401.
