Unemployment holding steady locally

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October 29, 2009

By Trent Moore The Cullman Times The Cullman Times Thu Oct 29, 2009, 08:00 AM CDT

CULLMAN — Local unemployment numbers remained level for September, though the state of Alabama has climbed to the 10th highest unemployment rate in the nation.

Cullman County stayed at 9.6 percent for September, matching the previous statistic from August. The local rate actually dropped from 9.7 percent in July, before leveling off. But, year-to-date the local unemployment rate has steadily increased from 5.2 percent in September 2008.

The state unemployment rate jumped from 10.3 percent in August to 10.7 percent in September, which was the nation’s third-fastest growth in unemployment for the year and the state’s highest in nearly 25 years.

Though the state numbers are increasing, Cullman Economic Development Agency Assistant Director Dale Greer said he was relieved to hear the local numbers haven’t followed course.

“I’m really glad that as much as the state increased, we’ve held steady,” he said.

Greer said there are some positive signs locally that the economy is turning around.

“We’ve had some local industries call back workers that had been laid off,” he said. “We are still seeing signs of improvement.”

When compared to surrounding counties, Cullman remained near or below the local average. Winston County posted 17.5 percent, Walker County had 11.9 percent, Morgan County had 10.4 percent, Blount County had 9.9 percent and Marshall County had 9.2 percent.

Statewide, Shelby County posted the lowest unemployment rate at 7.6 percent, with Wilcox County coming in as the highest with 25.6 percent.

University of Alabama Center for Business and Economic Research Director Sam Addy said moving into the worst 10 states for unemployment has psychological impacts, particularly for the unemployed who have been looking for work and are on the verge of giving up.

“It has a dampening effect on morale,” Addy said. “We got into the recession later, but the effect was much greater.”

Ranking above Alabama are Nevada (up 6.0 percentage points) and Michigan (up 6.4 percentage points). Those are also the top two states in unemployment, with Michigan at 15.3 percent and Nevada at 13.3 percent.

The man who oversees Alabama’s unemployment compensation benefits, state Industrial Relations Director Tom Surtees, said Alabama was in the middle of the states in unemployment only a year ago. That’s because the early part of the recession curtailed the financial and housing industries, and Alabama was not as impacted as many other states.

Then the recession hit manufacturing jobs, and Alabama has more workers in manufacturing jobs than the typical state, Addy said. Also, professional, business and technical services were hit hard. Those jobs, along with manufacturing, tend to be Alabama’s best-paying, according to the Associated Press.

“When you are losing jobs in higher-paying industries, it affects everyone else because they can’t spend as much,” Addy said.

Looking ahead, Addy sees two positive signs. First, Alabama’s exports, particularly to China, are showing signs of improvement after dropping significantly early in the year. Second, the state’s industrial recruitment program has kept going full speed during the recession, which is bound to have an impact when a recovery starts.

Surtees pointed out Alabama had fewer new jobless claims in September than any month this year, and unemployment benefit payments dropped from 102,000 two weeks ago to slightly below 100,000 last week.

Surtees isn’t ready to call those signs that state unemployment is leveling off, but they are positives for an agency whose job is helping those out of work.

More information about unemployment benefits can be found at the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations Web site (http://dir.alabama.gov/uc).

Job listings with the Alabama Career Center, located at the Wallace State Community College banquet hall, can be found at the center’s Web site (https://joblink.alabama.gov/ada).

‰ The Associated Press contributed to this report.

‰ Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 225.

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