Rockingham unemployment rate near 10 percent

From staff reports
Published: January 8, 2009

Unemployment rates have increased in all 100 N.C. counties, with Rockingham’s rate approaching 10 percent for November.
Employment Security Commission Chair Harry Payne Jr. addressed the troubling numbers, saying “Manufacturing, retail trade and service sectors have been hit hard during this national and worldwide economic slump. Retail trade,” the statement said, “was down because many employers did not take on more workers during the holiday season as they have in the past. Also, textile and furniture manufacturing continue to struggle in the global economy.”
Orange County had the lowest rate in the state, at 4.7 percent, according to the ESC. Edgecombe had the highest rate – 13.3 percent. Rockingham County’s rate rose from 8.6 in October to 9.7 percent in November. Greensboro and High Point rose from 7 percent to 8.1 percent, and Winston-Salem went from 6.5 percent to 7.2 percent. The statewide rate was 7.8 percent, which translates to 356,794 unemployed workers in North Carolina. Seventeen counties had unemployment rates that exceeded 10 percent.
Nationally, the number of people continuing to claim jobless benefits jumped unexpectedly by 101,000 to 4.61 million, The Associated Press reported. That was above analysts’ expectations of 4.5 million and the highest level since November 1982, when the nation was emerging from a steep recession, though the labor force has grown by about half since then. The data for continuing claims is for the week ended Dec. 27.
“Getting a job in this environment ... is extremely difficult,” said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR Inc., a New York consulting firm.
Companies have resumed mass layoffs after a brief respite over the holidays, the AP said. This week alone, insurance provider Cigna Corp., aluminum producer Alcoa Inc., data-storage company EMC Corp. and computer products maker Logitech International have announced large job cuts.
Unemployment figures due out Friday are expected to show that the U.S. lost a net total of 500,000 jobs in December. If accurate, that would bring total job losses last year to 2.4 million, the first annual job loss since 2001 and the highest since 1945, though the number of jobs has more than tripled since then.
The job cuts are expected to send the unemployment rate to 7 percent in December, up from 6.7 percent the previous month. That would be the highest level since June 1993. The unemployment rate also will be released Friday.
Last week, the AP said, was the second in a row that initial claims have come in below 500,000, after seven weeks above that level. A Labor Department analyst said the dip could be a result of companies laying off workers earlier this winter than in previous years. Initial claims reached a 26-year high of 589,000 two weeks ago.