Summary Background
REGIONAL OVERVIEW
WORKFORCE
According to the American Community Survey, there were approximately 345,000 workers residing in northwest Georgia in 2020. Of these, approximately 53.6% worked in their county of residence, 36.1% worked in Georgia but outside their county of residence, and 10.3% worked outside the state of Georgia.
Employment by Industry
The largest number of workers in the region are employed in the manufacturing industry which retains 22.52% of the labor force. While the Educational services, and health care and social assistance industry employs 19.32% of the labor force and the retail trade industry employs 10.92% of the labor force. Each of the other industry sectors employs less than 10% of northwest Georgia’s laborers.
Employment by Occupation
The largest percent of northwest Georgia’s workers are employed in management, business, science, and arts occupations jobs at 27.75% of the workforce. Production, transportation, and material moving occupations employ the next largest percent at 22.59%; while sales and office occupations employ close to the same number of workers at 21.92%. Service occupations employ 15.88%. Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations employ 11.87% of the region’s workforce.
Unemployment
As previously discussed, unemployment in the region has largely recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the 24-Month Unemployment Rate for northwest Georgia at 5.56%, which is only 0.6% higher than the national rate.
Long-term Industry Projections
The Georgia Department of Labor published long-term employment projections for the Northwest Georgia Region in which they predict 2028 employment in select industries. According to this study, educational services (although at a slower rate than the previous 5 years) will continue to see the highest number of jobs added with 3,520 by 2028 with an annual growth rate of 1.40%. The industry sector with the highest project annual growth rate, however, is Transportation Equipment Manufacturing, which is projected to see an annual growth rate of 3.00% for a total of 2,130 new jobs in 2028.
Contact NORTHWEST GEORGIA REGIONAL COMMISSION
Northwest Georgia Regional Commission
NWGRC Community & Economic Development
1 Jackson Hill - Rome, Georgia 30161
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