Tuesday, March 25, 2008
March 26, 2008 09:07 am
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Stanly County’s unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percent to 5.1 percent in January and was among 73 counties with rates between 5 and 10 percent, according to information released by the Employment Security Com-mission of North Carolina.
In December, there were 51 counties between 5 and 10 percent and zero with more than 10 percent unemployment rate. For January, that number jumped to three.
“Unemployment rates typically increase during this time of the year as seasonal weather slows down construction and other outdoor jobs,” said ESC Chairman Harry E. Payne Jr.
Over the month, numbers show that rates increased in every county except Alexan-der County. After the increases, Orange County had the state’s lowest rate at 3.4 percent while Hyde County had the highest at 11.1 percent.
All 14 metropolitan statistical areas experienced an increase in rates. The area closest to Stanly County, the Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury area, had a rate of 5.7 percent, with 1.09 million of the almost 1.2 million workers employed, leaving roughly 66,000 unemployed.
In Albemarle, 1,606 of the 31,297 workers were unemployed, making a rate of 5.1 percent, which matched the county’s rate.
Total county employment decreased in January by 23,633 workers from from approximately 4.3 million.
The unemployment in Jan-uary was 220,598 compared with 211,910 in December.
“This is also the time when some workers leave part-time holiday season jobs. But since this time last year, more than 15,600 workers have found employment,” Payne said.
In January, there were 98,062 Initial Unemployment Insurance (UI) Claims filed in the state. Mecklenburg County had the highest number filed with 5,191, followed closely by Guilford, Ran-dolph, Davidson and Gaston counties.
The five counties receiving he highest amount in unemployment insurance benefits were: Mecklenburg, $9.2 million; Wake, $5,7 million; Guilford, $4.3 million; Forsyth, $3.1 million and Gaston, $2.6 million.
In January, $99.4 million in benefits was paid to 117.820 individuals statewide, compared with $78.2 million to 93,176 individuals in December.
Contact Tiffany Thompson at (704) 982-2121 ext. 24 or snaponline1@yahoo.com.
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