ATLANTA — More than 200,000 people were hired across the U.S. in December, according to the government -- a higher-than-expected number.
A surge of people going back to work, month to month in 2023, is keeping unemployment below 4% in Georgia and nationwide.
Economists say that could be one more sign of an improving economy.
Many expect that the cash crunch that has been impacting so many families might start to ease this year in Georgia and across the rest of the U.S. -- ultimately increasing everyone’s spending power.
“The labor market continues to fire on all cylinders,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
And Nela Richardson, Chief Economist of ADP, said that that means more workers have more money to spend.
“Overall, it looks like a very solid picture for the labor market, to underlie the continuous consumer spending that drives the U.S. economy,” Richardson said.
In Atlanta, economist Ray Hill with Emory University’s Goizueta Business School pointed out that consumers are relieved that gasoline prices are falling. But he said there is also bad news about prices for just about everything else.
“The prices are still higher than they were before we had this burst of inflation,” Hill said, “and they’re not going back down, ever again--not as a whole.”
Hill said that while inflation continues to increase at a slower rate than before, the good news is that wages continue to rise faster than inflation.
“Six months ago, people were talking about a recession coming or the economy falling apart,” Hill said. “The Georgia economy is doing fine. And the Atlanta regional economy is also doing fine.”
Some employers, including restaurant owners, are not able to fill all the jobs that have remained open since the pandemic.
“We are still having a very hard time finding employees,” said Izzy Kharasch, a restaurant consultant and president of Hospitality Works. “I’m glad to see the jobs report is up. More people are going to work. But it’s still a struggle in the hospitality industry.”
Kharasch said chefs are still scarce, but servers have started to come back to work as customers return.
“Just about all of my clients did better last year than they did in 2019,” Kharasch said. “It’s been a long struggle to get there.”
Professor Hill of Emory said economists are finding reason for optimism.
“The U.S. numbers and the Georgia numbers are very, very parallel, except everything's a little bit better in Georgia," Hill said. “Wait and see. I think things look all right. Let’s make sure that there’s not a resurgence of inflation, but it looks like we’re on the right path.”