ATLANTA — After years of nearly unprecedented pay gains among workers nationwide, salaries are coming back to earth.
And in some places in Georgia, wage growth isn't just slowing. It's decreasing.
Average weekly earnings in Atlanta dropped 1.8%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Six other Georgia cities also saw decreases. Rome had the largest drop at 10%, according to reporting for the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Atlanta remains the metro area with the highest wages in the state, followed by Gainesville, which is seeing a development boom, and Augusta.
The Atlanta Business Chronicle has included a chart showing the trends in Georgia metros.
Nationwide, median wage growth, averaged over a three-month period in June, fell to 5.6%, according to the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank. That's down from a peak of 6.7% in June 2022 and the third month of consecutive drops in monthly gains.
That nationwide growth is still much higher than before the pandemic when the median wage increases were around 3% or 4%.
While pay raise plans remain elevated relative to pre-pandemic years, experts say employers are treading more cautiously with pay as the job market softens.
Gone are the huge signing bonuses, unbudgeted midyear pay bumps and soaring salaries for new hires that were commonplace for much of 2021 and 2022.
Despite the slowdown, employers are still budgeting healthy increases for 2024 salaries — a side effect of continued hiring challenges.
