With the ending of the holidays and the start of the New Year, we come to the time in January when the prognosticators and pretty much everyone else want to know exactly how well the economy will do in 2022–as well as when it all will happen. Well, while that kind of omniscience is above our pay grade, presenting the trends and indicators is more in the sweet spot, We took a look across the economic landscape, wrapping in comparisons of Atlanta to competing metros. Here are some highlights of what we found:
- Atlanta’s job market recovery is one of the strongest among our peers.
- Despite this recovery, there is still a good amount of financial distress out there.
- Employment in the Food/Accommodation Sector is still down 13 percent from pre-pandemic levels.
- Inflation in metro Atlanta is highest among its peer metro areas, driven by sky-rocketing motor fuel and personal vehicle costs.
- Wages have increased in some sectors—primarily lower-wage, consumer-focused industries. But age growth has not kept up with inflation.
- Nationally, the ratio of unemployed workers to job openings is at historic lows (meaning there are more job openings than job seekers), and the quit rate – workers who are voluntarily leaving their job- is at historic highs. So expect continued disruption in the labor market.
- Home prices (driven by extremely low inventory) are at all-time highs….as are rents.
For all the other highlights (along with some of the lowlights–we still face a LOT of economic equity challenges), click through the slideshare below or check out the full snapshot in PDF