Savannah-area businesses continue to hang out the “now hiring” signs.
Employers in Chatham, Bryan and Effingham counties added 2,400 jobs in August, according to Georgia Department of Labor estimates. Savannah businesses employed 3,800 more workers in August 2012 than they did in August 2011.
The Savannah area accounted for nearly 10 percent of the jobs added statewide in the month.
The 154,300 local jobs ranks as the highest total since November 2010. Savannah businesses employed 159,000 workers prior to the recession’s onset in 2008.
The monthly labor estimates come on the heels of Armstrong Atlantic State University economist Michael Toma’s upbeat second quarter report on the local economy.
Savannah added jobs across multiple sectors, led by education and state government staffing up at back-to-school time. Yet the 900 new jobs added locally in those areas represents a smaller percentage of hiring compared to elsewhere in the state.
Statewide, seasonal education workers returning to their jobs accounted for more than half of the monthly growth, according to Mark Butler, Georgia’s labor commissioner. The Savannah area added 400 new jobs in professional and business services, 300 positions in transportation, warehousing and utilities, 300 more in tourism-related activities and 200 at the local government levels.
Even the much maligned banking and financial services sector saw growth, up 200 jobs in the last two months.
“The local economy is turning around from an employment perspective,” said Sabrina Adkins with Apollo Staffing, an employment agency located in Pooler. “We deal a lot with warehousing as well as skilled labor, and the demand is growing. With the holidays coming fast, we’ll really see a jump in seasonal employment soon, too.”
The stability in local employment is another welcome sign. No sector registered job losses in August compared to July and only construction, federal government and local government employers posted year-over-year drop-offs.
A year ago, the Savannah area saw an uptick in April and May only to see jobs begin a slow but steady bleed off in June. That wasn’t the case this spring and summer, with jobs climbing each month except July — and those losses were government-related. The private sectors added 600 jobs in July.
The local trend reflects statewide job growth.
“Georgia continued to have respectable job growth, which is a good sign,” Butler, the labor commissioner, said. What is “encouraging is the fact that August-to-August growth in the last year is the most we’ve had since 2007.”
GROWING SECTORS
Most Savannah-area employers have added employees in the last year. A look at growth in some of the top sectors.
Sector|Employees August 2012|Employees August 2011
Manufacturing|14,600|14,300
Trade, transportation, utilities|33,600|32,700
Professional and business services|18,300|17,300
Education and health services|24,700|23,900
Leisure and hospitality|21,300|20,400
Source: Georgia Department of Labor