Analysis of the Relative Decline in the Employment Income in Georgia, An

• FRC Report 205 Version
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• December 1, 2009 Create Date
• February 26, 2020 Last Updated

FRC Report 205, December 01, 2009, John W. Matthews
This report examines the change in employment income per job to better understand why income in Georgia has increased so much slower than in the rest of the U.S.

Georgia’s population and job growth were among the highest in the country in both the 1990-2000 and 2000-2008 periods. In the period from 1990 to 2000, Georgia ranked 10th among all states in the annual growth rate of per capita personal income. However, since 2000 the rate of growth in the average Georgian’s personal income has declined sharply. The result is that per capita income in Georgia has declined relative to the U.S. To an extent, the change in Georgia’s rate of growth in per capita personal income relative to the nation can be explained by factors such as a changing age distribution and shifting components of income (wages, dividends, rents, social security payments, etc.). This report concentrates on one component of personal income, employment income, which comprises about two-thirds (67.8 percent in 2007) of total personal income in the U.S.

About the Author
John Matthews is a Senior Research Associate in the Fiscal Research Center in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University and a visiting professor in both GSU’s Public Administration and Urban Studies and The Graduate School of City Planning at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Matthews’ main research interest is in urban growth policy.