Savannah Chamber

28 Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce 2016 Economic Trends 8 Employment (By Place of Work) By Sector The Savannah MSA workforce increased 3.81% from 2014 to 171,600 workers. This represents a post-recession high watermark. Several sectors experienced significant growth in 2015, reflecting improving business conditions in the region: professional and business services (+2,900 jobs, 14.8% growth), manufacturing (+1,000 jobs, 6.25% growth), and transportation and utilities (+600 jobs, 5.77% growth). Also notable is the 4.55% increase (+900 jobs) in the retail trade sector. Leisure and hospitality added 800 jobs in the past year. Nearly all sectors experienced growth from 2014 to 2015. Except for the state and local government sector, information was the only sector to experience a minor (-100 jobs) job loss. Federal government remained the same from 2014 to 2015, while state and local government combined fell by 1,300 jobs. Employment – Annual Averages Savannah MSA Industry 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Change 2009-15 Change 2014-15 Total Nonfarm* 151,000 151,000 152,400 155,900 160,000 165,300 171,600 13.6% 3.8% Construction & Mining 7,300 6,200 5,900 5,600 5,600 5,900 6,000 -17.8% 1.7% Manufacturing 13,800 13,500 14,200 14,800 15,000 16,000 17,000 23.2% 6.3% Wholesale Trade 5,900 5,900 5,900 5,900 6,400 6,400 6,600 11.9% 3.1% Retail Trade 17,000 17,300 17,800 18,200 18,800 19,800 20,700 21.8% 4.6% Transportation & Utilities 9,300 9,000 9,300 9,800 9,600 10,400 11,000 18.3% 5.8% Information 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,400 1,500 1,900 1,800 20.0% -5.3% Financial Activities 6,200 6,000 5,700 6,100 6,400 6,400 6,400 3.2% 0.00% Professional & Business Services 16,500 17,500 17,600 18,400 19,200 19,600 22,500 36.4% 14.8% Education & Health Services 22,500 23,600 23,800 23,900 24,300 24,200 24,700 9.8% 2.1% Leisure & Hospitality 19,900 20,000 20,600 21,500 22,500 24,100 24,900 25.1% 3.3% Other Services 7,200 6,800 6,800 6,800 7,000 7,100 7,300 1.4% 2.8% Government – Federal 3,000 3,200 3,200 3,200 3,000 2,800 2,800 -6.7% 0.00% Government – State & Local 20,900 20,500 20,200 20,400 20,700 20,600 19,300 -7.7% -6.3% Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, State and Area Employment, Hours and Earnings (2015 data are annualized seasonally adjusted through September.) Retrieved at www.bls.gov on 12/7/2015. * NOTE: BLS data are benchmarked annually; data for 2009-2014 have been updated to reflect these changes. Where the Jobs Are All post-recession job growth in the Savannah MSA has occurred in the private sector. Since 2011, employment in leisure/hospitality, professional/business services, and retail trade has grown to exceed government employment. These sectors join education/health services as the four largest industries in the Savannah MSA. Six sectors hold similar portions of total employment in the Savannah MSA, further attesting to the area's healthy, diverse industry mix: leisure and hospitality (14.5%), education and health services (14.4%), professional and business services (13.1%), retail trade (12.1%), and state and local government (11.2%). Manufacturing accounts for 10% of the area's jobs.

• Cover