Posted: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 1:00 pm
Thesnaponline.com
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Posted on Jan 13, 2015
Unemployment in Stanly County went down for the third straight month in November, dropping to the lowest level in seven years.
Numbers released by the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Labor and Economic Analysis Division show Stanly County’s unemployment rate now at 4.8 percent. That’s down .2 percent from last month’s 5.0 seasonly adjusted number. It’s the lowest rate on record since September 2007, when the unemployment rate was 4.6 percent.
Stanly was one of 72 counties to see its unemployment rate drop, down from the 97 counties that saw their rate lower in October. A total of 20 counties saw their rate increase in November while eight remained the same. Most of the counties that saw a rise in unemployment were seasonal locations that benefitted from the summer tourism months such as Camden (5.5 to 6.1 from October to November), Dare (5.0 to 6.5), Avery (5.7 to 6.2) and Hyde (5.4 to 6.8), which saw the biggest one-month increase in the state.
Stanly now ranks 16th among the 100 counties in overall unemployment, up from 19th in October. It’s just another positive sign after the rate reached 14.0 percent in January 2010.
“It does seem to be a little bit of a trend upward in the unemployment rate,” said Donnie Mann, director of Division of Workforce Solutions in Albemarle. “I know the drop in November can come from seasonal hiring. We’ve seen an increase in job orders in the field of retail and manufacturing. There does seem to be a trend of the economy recovering.”
While those percentages are good news, a bigger story is the dwindling number of people actually in the workforce. While the unemployment rate continues to drop, the number of people employed has been more of a rollercoaster. In May, 30,964 were listed in the labor force. November shows 29,829, down from the 30,113 in October.
The 29,829 figure is the lowest number of members in the labor force since 29,971 were listed in April 2009. On the flip side, the 1,429 listed as unemployed in Stanly County is the lowest since September 2007, when 1,396 were unemployed.
Part of that can be attributed to the growing number of retirees moving to the area plus factors like jobs outside the county, people passing away or moving. Jobs that take residents outside of the county to places like Concord, Monroe and Charlotte for work is also a factor.
According to 2013 U.S. Census data, the population increase in the county was .1 percent, from 60,585 in 2010 to an estimated 60,635 in 2013 — a net gain of 50 people in three years.
“Those numbers are affected by retirees and relocations,” Mann said. “As far as unemployent, they don’t have an impact on the unemployment rate, just the number of people working.
“We’ve seen the economy strengthen and we are seeing more job openings in local manufacturing and retail. That’s a good sign we are putting people back to work.”
With the December numbers coming out within the next week, there’s a chance the unemployment rate will drop again. While it is hard to predict exactly how much of a drop there will be, Mann said the number of businesses looking for part-time and full-time help in retail alone is a good indication of where things stand.
“It is hard to predict what the numbers will show or reflect the rate,” Mann said. “We have seen a trend of improvement and I think we will see that in the December figures as well.”
Albemarle has returned to the top of the micropolitan statistical areas for lowest unemployment in the state, beating out Boone (4.9 percent). Asheville (4.0), Durham-Chapel Hill (4.3) and Raleigh-Cary (4.3) are the only metropolitian statistical areas in the state with unemployment lower than Albemarle.
Unemployment dropped again in every neighboring county, including Union (4.4), Cabarrus (4.9), Randolph (5.0), Rowan (5.3), Mecklenburg (5.4), Davidson (5.5), Montgomery (5.8), Anson (6.6) and Richmond (7.0).
To submit story ideas, contact Jason O. Boyd at (704) 982-2121 ext. 21 or email at jason@stanlynews press.com.
Jason O. Boyd is a staff writer for The Stanly News Press. Contact him at (704) 982-2121 ext. 21 or jason@stanlynewspress.com.
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Tuesday, January 13, 2015 1:00 pm.
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