{"schema_version": 1, "id": "augusta-richmond-county-ga-sc-msa/restaurant-industry/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": "restaurant_industry", "slug": "restaurant-industry", "label": "Restaurant Industry"}, "period": "2026-08", "public_after": "2026-08-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T16:28:12.755321+00:00", "headline": "Augusta unemployment hits 30-month low as labor force shrinks.", "headline_summary": "Augusta's jobless rate fell to 3.9% in July, its best mark since March 2024, even as Server pay climbed to $31,546 and Restaurant Manager pay dropped to $56,000 locally.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Augusta MSA unemployment rate", "value": "3.9%", "context": "Lowest since March 2024; ties Albany, Columbus, Macon for GA high"}, {"label": "National restaurant payroll gain", "value": "+59,200 jobs", "context": "Largest one-month gain since January 2023"}, {"label": "Georgia tipped minimum wage", "value": "$2.13/hr", "context": "Unchanged since 2009 vs Florida's $15.00 effective Sept 30"}, {"label": "Full-service employment vs pre-pandemic", "value": "-3.6%", "context": "203,000 jobs below Feb 2020 levels nationally"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Server pay is rising while management pay is falling.", "body": "Augusta Server advertised pay is up moderately to $31,546, converging with national levels, while Restaurant Manager/GM pay is down significantly to $56,000 versus a $59,762 national median. This divergence suggests front-of-house roles are absorbing competitive pressure from a tightening labor pool while management compensation strategy has not kept pace."}, {"headline": "Georgia's wage floor advantage is a temporary buffer, not a strategy.", "body": "Tipped wage remains locked at $2.13 cash plus tip credit while Florida climbs to $15.00 minimum on September 30, unchanged since 2009. Relying on this gap to manage labor cost as a share of revenue works only as long as local Server pay stays below what tip volatility can reliably guarantee to reach the $7.25 floor."}, {"headline": "A falling labor force complicates what a lower unemployment rate implies.", "body": "Augusta's 3.9% rate is the best in 30 months, but July also saw declining labor force size, earnings, and hours worked, meaning fewer workers are chasing fewer hours rather than broad-based hiring strength. Turnover and retention planning should weigh this contraction more heavily than the headline rate alone."}, {"headline": "Crew and Shift Manager pay softening may reflect QSR staffing flexibility, not weak demand.", "body": "Crew pay is down moderately to $24,319 locally against a stable $29,791 national figure, and Shift Manager pay is down moderately as well, consistent with national commentary that 51% of operators are prioritizing staff efficiency over headcount growth. This points toward operational leverage, not necessarily reduced hiring appetite, as the primary lever for managing labor cost."}], "local_conditions": "Augusta's unemployment rate fell to 3.9% in July 2026, the lowest since March 2024, yet the metro still ranks among the worst job markets nationally per WalletHub's 2026 analysis, with the labor force, earnings, and hours worked all softening even as the rate improved. Nationally, restaurant payrolls posted their largest one-month gain since January 2023, but with Georgia's minimum and tipped wages frozen since 2009, Augusta operators are absorbing seasonal hiring momentum without the wage-floor pressure building in states like Florida.", "implications": "A tightening headline unemployment rate paired with a shrinking labor force signals fewer available candidates even as fewer people are actively searching, which raises the cost of recruitment even where advertised pay stays flat. Georgia's frozen tipped-wage structure gives Augusta operators unusual latitude on front-of-house labor cost relative to Florida and Washington, but that advantage narrows if Server pay continues climbing locally while base wages for management roles decline. Consider reviewing whether savings from a stagnant tipped-wage floor are being reinvested into retention tools like earned wage access, given that national data shows these now outweigh 401(k) plans for part-time worker appeal.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Expected", "body": "Florida's minimum wage reaches $15.00 on September 30, 2026, and multistate or border-adjacent Augusta-area operators should watch for spillover effects on Server and Crew expectations even without a Georgia policy change."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Full-service restaurants remain 3.6% below pre-pandemic employment nationally as of July 2026; watch whether Augusta's dine-in segment shows similar recruitment lag against QSR/casual formats locally."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Augusta's labor force contraction alongside declining hours worked in July may tighten candidate availability further into fall hiring season; monitor whether September-October job postings see longer time-to-fill for back-of-house roles."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "National quits rates falling from 685,000 to 503,000 between January and July suggest reduced voluntary turnover; track whether Augusta's typically high restaurant turnover shows a similar stabilization in local separations data."}], "roles": [{"role": "Assistant Restaurant Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 31200.0, "metro_p50": 38985.0, "metro_p75": 41600.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 39000.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Catering Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 38601.0, "metro_p50": 50488.0, "metro_p75": 56062.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 51585.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Crew", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 22792.0, "metro_p50": 24319.0, "metro_p75": 24960.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 29791.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Line Cook", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 25727.0, "metro_p50": 29885.0, "metro_p75": 31980.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 36702.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Restaurant Manager/General Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 46542.0, "metro_p50": 56000.0, "metro_p75": 64834.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 59762.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Server", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 26000.0, "metro_p50": 31545.8, "metro_p75": 33419.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 34915.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Shift Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 25205.25, "metro_p50": 28123.0, "metro_p75": 30160.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 32649.0, "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/restaurant-industry/2026-08.html", "pdf": "augusta-richmond-county-ga-sc-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-08.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T16:33:10.222973+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/augusta-richmond-county-ga-sc-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-08.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/augusta-richmond-county-ga-sc-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-08.pdf"}