Summer’s start traditionally marks a mountain pass for job growth in Savannah.
School lets out, resulting in a two- or three-month drop in education jobs. That dries up the tourism business, leading to seasonal cuts in the hospitality and retail sectors. Other businesses pause as employees take vacations with kids out of school.
Savannah, however, is experiencing no such slowdown this year.
Employers in Chatham, Bryan and Effingham counties gave back just 100 jobs in June, according to statistical estimates released Thursday by the Georgia Department of Labor.
The education sector did encounter its usual seasonal dip, giving back in the neighborhood of 500 jobs. But hospitality and retail industries maintained its labor force from May while financial services companies like banks, the professional and business services sector and local government all added workers.
The only negative anomaly on the report was the loss of 200 jobs in the manufacturing sector in the month. LMI Aerospace’s recent expansion announcement for its Savannah facility will help offset those losses in the months ahead
The local unemployment rate will be released next Thursday and is expected to rise from May’s 7.9 percent rate due to high school and college graduations that added to the June labor force. The state unemployment rate, released Thursday, jumped from 8.3 percent to 8.6 percent.
“There is a silver lining in this new data,” said Mark Butler, the state’s labor commissioner, “because this was the best May-to-June job performance we’ve had since 2002.”
Savannah’s employed labor force is up 1,100 workers from June 2012. The June estimate of 159,400 stands in contrast to the 147,700 employed locally as recently as January 2010.
The pre-economic downturn high was 162,100 in June 2008.
Local tourism officials trumpeted the labor data as another sign that Savannah is becoming a year-round destination for visitors. The sector has added 900 workers over the last 12 months, and retailers are 700 employees ahead of where they were a year ago.
The employment numbers reflect hotel occupancy returns, which are pacing 4 percent above the same period last year, Visit Savannah President Joe Marinelli said.
“Savannah’s tourism activity continues to be a very positive story, especially as it relates to keeping people working,” Marinelli said. “More hotel rooms being filled and higher spending levels are the perfect formula for keeping folks working and adding jobs.”