Job losses jumping as crisis hits home - Birmingham Business Journal:

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First-time unemployment claims soared in Georgia last month to nearly according to the statd Departmentof Labor, a 76.3 percent increase over initiapl filings in September of last Among the areas hardest hit by the growinf joblessness were northern Georgia’s carpett belt, center to an industryt that relies on residential construction to keep orders and metro Atlanta’s outer suburbs, where the housing boom has turnecd into a bust. “Housing has been good to Georgia over the last Georgia Commissioner of Laboer MichaelThurmond said.
“Now, we’re feelingg some of the repercussions of the Thurmond pointed to some parts of Georgi where the job market remains in relatively good Forts Benning and Stewart were among the few net winners duriny the last round of militaryg base closings severalyears ago. Consequently, unemploymenf claims in the Columbus and Hinesville areaz are running well below thestatewide number. Likewise, west central Georgia is gearing up for the plannedr opening of a plant in Troup County late next Insharp contrast, first-time unemployment filings in Daltohn ---— ground zero for the carpef industry — shot up almostt 106 percent during the last year.
Gainesville was even worse, leading the stats with a 126 percent jumpin joblessness. While that coulfd be attributed in part to the loss ofcarpet jobs, a bigger factor was the decision by German auto parts maker to closd its aluminum wheel plant in Gainesville, resulting in nearl y 300 layoffs. Too recent for the September statistica was an announcement by that it will closw a spun yarn plant inDade County, in far northwesterhn Georgia, laying off 440 workers. Roy Bowen, presiden t of the Georgia Traditional ManufacturerwsAssociation , puts the blamw on the slump in residential “A number of folkws we represent manufacture products that go directly to he said.
“They’re impacted directly by the housing First-time unemployment claims in metrpo Atlanta rose almost 79 percent duriny thelast year, only slightly abover the statewide figure. But that masks largw increases in joblessness inthe region’s outer counties. Cherokee, Dougla s and Fayette counties saw increaseds in initial unemployment filings of more than100 percent, while first-tims claims in Henry County rose 97 The most dramatic evidence of the tren d came in July with the closure of of Woodstock, metro Atlanta’z 19th-largest home builder according to the ’s 2007-20098 Book of Lists.
Kay Pippin, president of the Henry Countyg Chamber ofCommerce , said it’s no surprisee that the housing slump has affecter metro Atlanta’s fast-growing outlying counties more than the alread built-out core counties. “We were fourth in Americaq in new housing starts when all this she said. “Housing has come to a and it’s having a significant impact on our Thurmond said the diversified economiesof Atlanta’s inner counties give them an advantaged over the outer counties, which are primarily bedroom “That creates some economic insulation during a downturn,” he