{"schema_version": 1, "id": "augusta-richmond-county-ga-sc-msa/finance/2026-08", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 50, "label": "Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC MSA", "slug": "augusta-richmond-county-ga-sc-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-08", "public_after": "2026-08-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T16:24:20.018399+00:00", "headline": "Augusta unemployment falls, but the workforce is shrinking.", "headline_summary": "Augusta's jobless rate dropped to 3.9% in July, the lowest since March 2024, but a shrinking labor force and falling earnings \u2014 plus a WalletHub ranking among the nation's six worst job markets \u2014 suggest the improvement reflects fewer job seekers, not stronger hiring.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Augusta metro unemployment", "value": "3.9%", "context": "Lowest since March 2024, still worst among GA metros"}, {"label": "Richmond County unemployment", "value": "4.8%", "context": "vs 3.9% metro-wide, 4.1% national rate"}, {"label": "GA finance/stats vacancy growth", "value": "4.9% YoY", "context": "Fastest-growing sector statewide, June 2026"}, {"label": "Georgia unemployment rate", "value": "3.2%", "context": "vs 4.1% national, 0.9pt gap favors state overall"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Augusta's falling jobless rate is not a hiring win.", "body": "Unemployment dropped to 3.9% even as the labor force shrank and earnings declined locally, meaning fewer available candidates rather than stronger job creation. Budget for longer time-to-fill on finance roles even as headline stats look favorable."}, {"headline": "Controller pay is softening while analyst pay accelerates.", "body": "Metro Controller advertised pay fell to $97,028, roughly 14% below the $112,500 national median, while Financial Analyst pay rose sharply to $106,593, above the $82,905 national figure. This divergence suggests Augusta employers are bidding aggressively for analytical talent while Controller-level hiring cools \u2014 worth revisiting leveling and internal equity between these tiers."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist pay gap signals a local recruiting risk.", "body": "Metro Tax Specialist advertised pay sits at $43,732 against a $66,725 national median, a roughly 34% shortfall that widens as national tax-role pay climbs significantly. Organizations competing for tax talent regionally, or supporting remote hires, may find Augusta postings uncompetitive without adjustment."}, {"headline": "Georgia's finance vacancy growth outpaces the state's broader slowdown.", "body": "Finance and statistics vacancies grew 4.9% year-over-year statewide in June, the fastest of any sector, even as Georgia's overall job growth forecast sits near 0.5% for 2026. Augusta's tight, shrinking labor pool likely intensifies this competition for regional reporting and FP&A talent locally."}], "local_conditions": "Augusta's unemployment rate fell to 3.9% in July 2026, the lowest reading since March 2024, yet the improvement coincided with a shrinking labor force, declining hours worked, and falling earnings \u2014 a signature of workers exiting rather than employers expanding payrolls. WalletHub's ranking of Augusta among the six worst U.S. job markets for 2026 reinforces that headline unemployment gains mask weak job creation, with total metro employment still hovering near 252,500 and Richmond County unemployment running notably higher at 4.8%.", "implications": "Falling labor force participation alongside declining unemployment signals a shallower local talent pool for Finance roles, which compounds the national F&A hiring squeeze \u2014 90% of finance leaders already report difficulty filling positions, and Augusta's tighter, shrinking supply makes that worse, not better. Metro advertised pay for Financial Analyst and Senior Accountant roles is up significantly even as Controller pay has declined, suggesting employers are recalibrating which roles carry scarcity premiums rather than raising pay uniformly. Consider reviewing headcount plans role-by-role rather than department-wide, since Augusta's labor supply pressure appears concentrated in mid-level analytical and accounting positions rather than senior finance leadership.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Augusta's labor force decline alongside falling unemployment is unusual and worth tracking through the next two BLS releases to determine if it reflects retirement, outmigration, or discouraged-worker effects. Each has different implications for how aggressively to compete on Finance pay."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Georgia WARN activity shows 69 mass layoff notices in 2026 affecting over 10,000 workers, concentrated in manufacturing and transportation rather than finance. Watch whether displaced workers with transferable finance/back-office skills surface in the Augusta candidate pool over Q4."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National F&A leaders are already paying 6-15% premiums for AI-adjacent technical accounting skills, and Georgia's finance vacancy growth suggests this pressure is reaching regional markets. Model whether year-end close and audit staffing budgets need contingency for AI-skill premiums in 2027 planning."}, {"category": "Expected", "body": "UGA's 1.5% statewide growth forecast for 2026 and narrowing job growth to a handful of industries like healthcare suggest continued softness in broader Augusta hiring. Expect advertised pay volatility by role, not a uniform trend, through year-end."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 97027.0, "metro_p50": 97028.0, "metro_p75": 97028.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 112500.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 73046.0, "metro_p50": 87181.2, "metro_p75": 93750.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 87731.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Financial Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 79920.0, "metro_p50": 106592.6, "metro_p75": 110189.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 82905.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 35360.0, "metro_p50": 48800.0, "metro_p75": 50000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 49700.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 29716.0, "metro_p50": 43732.4, "metro_p75": 68871.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 66725.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 54678.5, "metro_p50": 70865.0, "metro_p75": 80502.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 72000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "FP&A Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 101256.0, "metro_p50": 119103.0, "metro_p75": 130648.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 127341.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [], "methodology": "Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay.", "edition_label": "September 2026", "files": {"html": "augusta-richmond-county-ga-sc-msa/finance/2026-08.html", "pdf": "augusta-richmond-county-ga-sc-msa/finance/2026-08.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T16:33:09.874626+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/augusta-richmond-county-ga-sc-msa/finance/2026-08.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/augusta-richmond-county-ga-sc-msa/finance/2026-08.pdf"}