Richmond County's jobless rate was 4.6% in August, down from 4.9% a year earlier, with about 2,000 more people working. How Augusta compares with Columbia County.
Richmond County’s unemployment rate was 4.6% in August. That is down from 4.9% in August 2025, according to the latest county figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The August figure is preliminary and can be revised next month. The rate also dipped from 4.8% in July.
More people working than a year ago
The county’s workforce grew over the year, and more of it found work. The bureau’s labor force, employment and unemployment counts for Richmond County show:
| August 2025 | August 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labor force | 85,109 | 86,930 | up 1,821 |
| Employed | 80,954 | 82,935 | up 1,981 |
| Unemployed | 4,155 | 3,995 | down 160 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.9% | 4.6% | down 0.3 points |
So the rate fell because jobs grew faster than the number of people looking for work, not because people left the workforce.
How the year has gone
The rate started 2026 at 5.3% in January. It fell to a low of 3.8% in April, then rose through the summer to 4.8% in July.
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.
How Augusta compares
Richmond County’s rate is higher than its neighbors’ and the state’s. These are August 2026 figures from the bureau, all not seasonally adjusted, so they compare like for like:
| Area | August 2025 | August 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Richmond County | 4.9% | 4.6% |
| Aiken County, South Carolina | 4.8% | 4.2% |
| Georgia | 3.6% | 3.4% |
| Columbia County | 3.5% | 3.3% |
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 3,995 Richmond County residents were out of work and looking in August, 160 fewer 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 county figures come in the bureau’s next monthly county release. We will update the trend when they are out.
- For more on the local economy, see our pages on Augusta home prices and Augusta’s population.
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