A small Alabama county loses its own federal wage rules, joins a larger Georgia area

The US government has abolished the Calhoun, Alabama, wage area for federal non-appropriated fund employees. This means federal workers in Calhoun County will now have their wages set by the Cobb, Georgia, wage area, and those in Jefferson County will follow the Madison, Alabama, area.

Federal wage areas define how much certain government employees are paid based on local labor markets. When an area is abolished and merged, it means the local economy no longer has enough federal workers to justify its own distinct wage calculation. This small change reflects a quiet shift in federal employment patterns in these specific Alabama counties.