By Larry K. Williams, TAG President and CEO
Despite the uncertain economic climate, Georgia’s economy is faring better than most. In fact, according to a recent report from the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the 39-county region around Atlanta is expected to see positive GDP growth in the range of 1.0% to 1.5% in 2023. This growth is predicted to be driven by several factors, the first of which being the strength of our labor market.
While economists predict a 0.5% loss in the number of jobs across the U.S. this year, job growth in Georgia is actually expected to increase by 0.1%. Furthermore, economic expansions throughout Georgia will likely keep the unemployment rate below the national level in the coming year.
And, on the national scale, the economy has continued to respond much faster to downturns than it has in the past, as reported by Raphael Bostic, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, at the Rotary Club of Atlanta a few weeks ago. With the rise of the pandemic, we saw record-breaking numbers of job losses – yet, within three years, the number of jobs in the economy is back to pre-pandemic levels, whereas it took the U.S. nearly nine years to do the same after the Great Recession.
According to Raphael, there is a good chance the economy will respond more rapidly than previously thought in terms of the inflation we’re currently seeing, and the same goes for Georgia. If proven true, this is excellent news for our innovation ecosystem at large.
I touched on many of these topics and more in my recent interview with WABE, which you can listen to here.
