UNEMPLOYMENT RATES CONTINUE TO RISE
Marc Summers
03-11-2010
Second verse, same as the first - that seems to be the story in regard to ever-rising unemployment
rates, both in northeast Alabama and practically everywhere else.
According to the latest figures released by the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations locally
Cherokee County saw an increase from 10.2% in December, to 11.4% for the month of January;
meanwhile Dekalb County rose from 13.4% to 15.5%; Etowah County, from 10.8% to 12.1% -
and in Marshall County the number went from 9.7% to 10.6%.
Dekalb County recently saw another 100+ jobs evaporate with the closing of Desoto Mills and in
Etowah County, Keystone Foods announced a temporary lay-off of some 118 workers, however
some of those individuals have reportedly already been called-back to work.
Statewide the unemployment rate for the month of January was 11.1%, which is the highest figure
in the last 26 years.
Across the state line in Georgia - Chattooga County posted a rate of 12.6% for January, up from
11.2% in December; the rate in metro Rome increased from 10.4% to 10.9% - while the rate for
Northwest Georgia came in at 11.6%.
The national figure currently stands at 9.7%.
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