Richmond County's jobless rate was 4.7% in September, level with a year earlier, as 2,219 more residents found work. How Augusta compares with Columbia County.
Richmond County’s unemployment rate was 4.7% in September, the same as in September 2025. About 2,219 more county residents had jobs than a year earlier. About 149 more were out of work, because the labor force grew a little faster than the number of jobs.
Updated Oct. 28: this story first reported the August figures. It now leads on the September estimates the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published this week. The revised August figures are further down.
The figures are the preliminary September estimates from the bureau’s Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. They are not seasonally adjusted, so the fair comparison is with the same month a year earlier. The rate rose slightly from 4.6% in August.
More people working than a year ago
The bureau’s labor force, employment and unemployment counts for Richmond County show:
| September 2025 | September 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labor force | 85,699 | 88,067 | up 2,368 |
| Employed | 81,684 | 83,903 | up 2,219 |
| Unemployed | 4,015 | 4,164 | up 149 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.7% | 4.7% | no change |
The county’s labor force is the largest it has been in any month of 2025 or 2026 so far. So the flat rate hides real growth: more people are working, and more are looking.
How the year has gone
The rate started 2026 at 5.3% in January. It fell to a low of 3.8% in April, rose through the summer to 4.8% in July, and has held between 4.6% and 4.7% since.
The bureau revised August only slightly. The rate stayed at 4.6%, with 86,957 in the labor force, 82,964 employed and 3,993 unemployed.
There is no county figure for October 2025. The bureau lists that month as “data unavailable due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations,” the federal government shutdown. When the October 2026 figures come out, there will be no year-earlier month to compare them with.
How Augusta compares
Richmond County’s rate is higher than its neighbors’ and the state’s. These are bureau figures, all not seasonally adjusted, so they compare like for like:
| Area | September 2025 | September 2026 | August 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond County | 4.7% | 4.7% | 4.6% |
| Aiken County, South Carolina | 4.5% | 3.6% | 4.2% |
| Georgia | 3.4% | 3.5% | 3.4% |
| Columbia County | 3.2% | 3.5% | 3.3% |
Aiken County had the biggest change, down 0.9 points from a year earlier. Columbia County went the other way, up 0.3 points.
Columbia County takes in Martinez and Evans, about 11 and 15 miles northwest of Augusta. Aiken County takes in North Augusta, about 13 miles away across the Savannah River.
What it means for you
- Job seekers: about 4,164 Richmond County residents were out of work and looking in September, 149 more than a year earlier.
- The numbers count where people live, not where they work. A Columbia County resident who works at an Augusta hospital counts in Columbia County’s figures.
- September’s figure is preliminary and can be revised when the October figures are published. We will update this story then.
- For more on the local economy, see our pages on Augusta home prices and Augusta’s population.
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