黑料正能量

For the 16th year, 黑料正能量鈥檚 Cree-Walker Chair and Professor of Economics in the Hull College of Business Simon Medcalfe, PhD, has given his analysis of the Augusta area economy.

The biggest thing on the minds of many remains the possibility of a recession and the overall inflation nationwide. Medcalfe thinks it probably won鈥檛 look a lot different in 2024 as it did in 2023. If anything, there may be less of a chance of a recession.

鈥淚 think the chances of recession have probably slipped a little. I think there鈥檚 less chance of a recession,鈥� said Medcalfe. 鈥淚nflation is certainly still a concern. It鈥檚 running at 3.2%, which sounds kind of low, but because of the amount of inflation, we鈥檝e had prices about 20% higher than two years ago, and it鈥檚 still a concern and still eating into people鈥檚 wages.鈥�

He indicated, looking at Google Trends and what people are searching, inflation is still a pretty high concern.

As for the Augusta region, Medcalfe pointed out that Columbia County continues to see a population increase and will likely have the largest population in the area by the end of the decade on current trends. As you would expect, as the population grows, so too does the number of businesses.

Looking at the different sectors of employment in the region, he said things haven鈥檛 really changed. The only sectors that have seen more than a 2% change in the share of total employment over the last 20 years are education and health services.

Medcalfe also pointed out that the manufacturing industry has seen a sizable increase since 2014. He said it was the same time the Starbucks manufacturing facility arrived in South Augusta but didn鈥檛 say that was the exact reason for the increase, just a point of reference for the manufacturing industry increased ever since.

鈥淢anufacturing has showed a large increase over the last ten years or so, past post-COVID as well. So now manufacturing employment in the local area is at the highest it鈥檚 been since I鈥檝e been here,鈥� Medcafe said.

Some research that Hull College is undertaking is the intersection of health care and business. He said it鈥檚 important to the economy in our region since Richmond, McDuffie and Burke counties all rank towards the bottom of county health rankings in Georgia.

鈥淥ne of the things we are looking at here in the business school and in the new School of Public Health is what are the factors that influence the population鈥檚 health but aren鈥檛 clinical? There鈥檚 a lot of things that impact people鈥檚 health. There鈥檚 socio-economic status, there鈥檚 the environment they live in, there鈥檚 education, there鈥檚 health behavior and all this kind of stuff.

鈥淎bout 25% of the research out of Hull College is now looking at health maps because it鈥檚 important. Not just the health of the population, but it then impacts the economy because we have a labor shortage and how much of that labor shortage is actually because some people can鈥檛 work,鈥� said Medcalfe.

Looking to know more?聽 We can help.

Simon Medcalfe, PhD, is a highly regarded economics expert in the Hull College of Business at 黑料正能量. Medcalfe is an expert that can talk on the national economy, as well as Georgia. He is available to speak with media 鈥� simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.