Dalton’s jobless jump 2nd in nation

As I was listing to NPR on the radio on my way home from work yesterday, I heard Dalton mentioned on the radio. This is not how we want to be known. Below is an article from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.


Dalton’s jobless jump 2nd in nation
Rate almost doubles in year
By Michael E. Kanell

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday, February 05, 2009

To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, the economic tide is ebbing all across the country, but some boats seem to be sinking a bit faster than the rest.

Of 369 metro areas, Dalton unemployment has climbed faster than any other metropolitan area in the country except for one: Only Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., where the jobless rate jumped by 10.6 points, was hit harder, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Georgia Department of Labor last week released the jobless rates for Atlanta and other metro areas in the state. On Wednesday, it became clear where they ranked nationally.

Twelve months into recession, unemployment rates had risen in 363 of the largest 369 metro areas —- 98 percent of them, according to the BLS.

For sheer size, the largest job loss during the year came in the New York metro area, which hemorrhaged 120,300 positions. Detroit was second-worst, losing 89,700 jobs.

Metro Atlanta placed fifth-worst, shrinking by 82,000 jobs.

But Atlanta’s work force is 2.8 million strong. So the damage was proportionally less than for many smaller communities.

For Elkhart-Goshen, the picture is especially grim: an unemployment rate of 15.3 percent in December thanks to layoffs at a number of recreational vehicle makers.

Dalton looked better, if only by comparison: The official jobless rate has nearly doubled in the past year, soaring 6.2 points to 11.2 percent.

The damage in Dalton has been mostly because of layoffs in textiles, a sector buffeted from two different directions.

The collapse of new residential construction has meant plunging demand for the furnishings and floor-coverings that go into new houses. Meanwhile, many of the world’s economies are in recession, which means a worldwide chill in demand for exports like those from Georgia manufacturers.

The pool of unemployed workers in Dalton has swelled from 3,404 to 7,736, according to the state Labor Department.

Economists note that the official jobless rate does not include people who have stopped looking for work, people who have taken unpaid work, like caring for their children, and people who are working part-time only because they cannot find full-time work.

Even so, Dalton’s jobless rate is a clear indicator. Moreover, Dalton was the first Georgia community to breach double-digits in unemployment.

Overall, Georgia’s official jobless rate in December was 8.1 percent. Atlanta’s unemployment rate also rose, but not quite as fast, hitting 7.6 percent.

National jobless numbers for January are to be released Friday. After a series of large layoff announcements in recent weeks, most economists expect dismal news. Expectations are that the report will show hundreds of thousands of jobs lost during the month and a rise in the national jobless rate, which was 7.2 percent during December.