Local jobless rate hits 7 percent

By: Richard Craver | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: December 02, 2008

The Triad's unemployment rate reached the 7 percent mark in October, the N.C. Employment Security Commission reported today.
For the commission's purposes, the Triad is a seven-county region encompassing the Winston-Salem and Greensboro-High Point metropolitan statistical areas.
It was the second time in three months that the Triad's jobless rate was at 7 percent or higher. It was 7.1 percent in August.
The rate rose from 6.8 percent in September — the only month this year to have a rate decrease.
The jobless rate for the Winston-Salem MSA increased slightly to 6.4 percent from 6.3 percent in September. The MSA consists of Davie, Forsyth, Stokes and Yadkin counties.
Forsyth's rate was unchanged at 6.3 percent.
Economists have cautioned for months that the state and local jobless rates are likely to increase the rest of this year and well into 2009.
Some employers, particularly manufacturers, are spreading their major job cuts over several months, which contribute to the monthly jobless rate not spiking.
Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wachovia Securities, said that "there is a lag between when layoffs are announced and actual displacements occurred."
That's why the Triad hasn't felt the full effect of recent major job cuts that include Hanesbrands Inc. in Winston-Salem (155 jobs) and Eden (720 at two plants), R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Reynolds American Inc. (570 combined), Vaughn-Bassett Furniture Co. Inc. (400 in Elkin), Furniture Brands International Inc. in High Point (300), Thomas Built Buses Inc. in High Point (up to 205), ASMO North Carolina Inc. (107 in Thomasville, 95 in Mount Airy), Ingersoll-Rand in Mocksville (110) and Triad Guaranty Inc. in Winston-Salem (more than 100).
There also is increasing anxiety about how many of Wachovia Corp.'s 2,900 local jobs will be cut or transferred as Wells Fargo & Co. merges the banks' operations over the next two years.

Local jobless rate hits 7 percent

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