{"schema_version": 1, "id": "macon-ga-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 275, "label": "Macon, GA MSA", "slug": "macon-ga-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T05:37:45.480744+00:00", "headline": "Macon finance headcount contracts as metro unemployment climbs to 4.1%.", "headline_summary": "Financial activities employment in Macon fell 9.6% in Q1 2026 even as metro unemployment rose to 4.1%, a looser local labor pocket than Georgia's record-tight 3.3% statewide rate.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Macon unemployment rate", "value": "4.1%", "context": "Up from 3.9% a year ago; vs Georgia's 3.3%"}, {"label": "Financial activities employment", "value": "-9.6%", "context": "Macon Q1 2026, vs -7,000 jobs nationally in Sept"}, {"label": "Macon labor force", "value": "100,703", "context": "Up 1,775 over the year; employment at 96,568"}, {"label": "CFO turnover rate", "value": "18.3%", "context": "Highest since pandemic; national (Crist|Kolder)"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Local finance headcount is shrinking faster than the nation's.", "body": "Macon's financial activities employment fell 9.6% to 5,773 jobs in Q1 2026, well outpacing the national financial activities decline of -7,000 jobs in September. This divergence suggests metro-specific restructuring or consolidation pressure that broader labor market data would not capture."}, {"headline": "Financial Analyst pay is rising while Controller pay sits flat.", "body": "Metro Financial Analyst advertised pay moved up significantly to $88,016, while Controller pay held stable at $164,790 \u2014 both against a backdrop of national CFO turnover at 18.3%, the highest since the pandemic. Demand appears concentrated at the analytical layer, with the executive suite showing comparatively less movement, which may warrant retention focus on mid-career talent before turnover migrates upward."}, {"headline": "FP&A Manager pay is softening against a rising national trend.", "body": "Metro FP&A Manager advertised pay moved down moderately to $118,411 even as the national median rose to $130,000, a gap that did not exist a year ago. Divergence from the national trajectory may reflect localized demand softness, but it also raises retention risk if Macon-based FP&A talent benchmarks against national postings."}, {"headline": "Metro unemployment rising alongside record state-level tightness is a split signal.", "body": "Macon's 4.1% unemployment rate sits well above Georgia's 3.3% statewide rate, which hit a ninth consecutive month of record employment in September. Finance leaders budgeting headcount costs should treat Macon as a distinct, looser labor pocket, with statewide tightness not assumed to apply locally."}], "local_conditions": "Macon-Bibb's unemployment rate climbed to 4.1% in September, up from 3.9% a year ago, even as the labor force grew to 100,703 and employment rose 977 over the month \u2014 a sign that labor supply is expanding faster than firms are absorbing it. Financial activities employment in the metro fell 9.6% to 5,773 jobs in Q1 2026, a sharper contraction than the national financial activities decline (-7,000 jobs in September), pointing to localized headcount pressure within finance functions specifically.", "implications": "Contracting financial activities headcount locally, against a national backdrop of 18.3% CFO turnover and 85% of CFOs reporting finance talent shortages, suggests Macon finance leaders face a tighter internal talent pool even as the broader metro labor market loosens. Advertised pay for Financial Analyst roles is up significantly locally ($88,016 median) while Controller pay holds flat ($164,790), indicating employers are competing hardest for mid-level analytical talent, with senior leadership positions seeing less pay pressure. Consider evaluating whether contract or interim staffing models, already adopted by 70% of finance leaders nationally in H2 2026, could bridge coverage gaps during close and audit cycles without committing to permanent headcount in a contracting local finance labor segment.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Financial activities employment has already contracted 9.6% locally this year; watch whether Q4 WARN filings or Georgia Department of Labor data show further sector-specific losses concentrated in Macon, distinct from statewide averages."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Macon's diffusion index has slipped below the expansion line (33), a late-cycle signal that historically precedes broader job growth deceleration. Finance leaders modeling 2027 headcount budgets should watch whether this translates into further softening in FP&A and analyst hiring demand."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National CFO turnover at 18.3% and 37.5% external hiring rates create vacancy risk during close and audit cycles; watch whether Macon's smaller finance talent pool makes backfill timelines longer than in larger Georgia metros like Atlanta or Savannah."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "H-1B labor condition applications in Macon rose 180% in FY2026 Q1, a signal employers may be turning to specialized visa talent where local supply for technical finance and analytical roles falls short. Track whether this trend extends into finance-adjacent technical hiring."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 164789.0, "metro_p50": 164790.0, "metro_p75": 164790.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 115420.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 71707.0, "metro_p50": 71707.0, "metro_p75": 71707.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 87731.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Financial Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 67379.5, "metro_p50": 88016.2, "metro_p75": 96098.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 94646.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 31941.5, "metro_p50": 48048.0, "metro_p75": 54377.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 49000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 39221.0, "metro_p50": 67500.0, "metro_p75": 82998.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 69556.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 53840.0, "metro_p50": 67800.0, "metro_p75": 76165.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 71397.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "FP&A Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 107481.0, "metro_p50": 118411.0, "metro_p75": 130605.5, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 130000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Macon Chamber of Commerce", "source_url": null, "statement": "Macon-Bibb unemployment rose to 4.1% in September 2026, up from 3.9% a year ago"}, {"source_name": "Georgia Department of Labor", "source_url": null, "statement": "Financial activities employment fell 9.6% to 5,773 jobs in Q1 2026"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, highest since pandemic"}, {"source_name": "Robert Half", "source_url": null, "statement": "70% of finance leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026"}, {"source_name": "Georgia Department of Labor", "source_url": null, "statement": "Georgia unemployment at 3.3% with record labor force for ninth month"}, {"source_name": "H1BScope", "source_url": null, "statement": "H-1B labor condition applications in Macon rose 180% in FY2026 Q1"}], "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": "November 2026", "files": {"html": "macon-ga-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "macon-ga-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:25:30.836570+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/macon-ga-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/macon-ga-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}