Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 1, 1990 TAG: 9006010260
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"Finding labor is not that big a problem. . . . We sell a labor market that is a lot bigger than Roanoke . . . [about] a 60-mile radius," said Heath, executive director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership.
The drop to the lowest jobless level since the Virginia Employment Commission began its records in 1974 reflects 500 fewer people drawing jobless benefits and gains of 600 construction and trade jobs, said William F. Mezger, a VEC research economist.
Roanoke's 2.3 percent unemployment - surpassed in the state only by 1.6 percent in Northern Virginia and 2 percent in Charlottesville - dropped from 3.4 percent in March and fell 1.8 percent from the February figure.
Roanoke's employment grew by a healthy 1,500 jobs in the past year to 126,700, despite a drop of 359 in the labor force living within the metro area.
In a breakdown by localities, the lowest rate in the area was 1.7 percent in Roanoke County, down from 2.5 percent in March. The Roanoke rate was 2.8 percent, down from 4.3 percent; Salem had 2 percent, down from 3.3, and Botetourt County had 2 percent, down from 2.9.
Unemployment in the state also declined from 3.9 percent in March to 3.4 percent, the best for April in 17 years. The economy is generally pretty good in the state, except for "off weeks" and some layoffs in the auto and housing industries, Mezger said.
The Radford-area jobless rate was 6.2 percent, down from 7.3 in March. Pulaski County had 7.7 percent, down from 8.5 percent, but Mezger said this is probably a temporary decline. The coming AT&T layoffs probably will bring Pulaski County as many problems as in any area of the state, he said.
Mezger's figures showed declines in unemployment for all Western Virginia areas except Franklin and Wythe counties, where scattered factory layoffs raised rates. Franklin's rate rose from 5.2 percent to 6.7 percent, and Wythe's level rose .1 percent to 6.6 percent.
Heath said most of the business prospects he talked to realize that they can draw from the regional labor pool. A lot of AT&T employees from Pulaski County have applied for Roanoke Valley industrial jobs, Heath noted.
A representative of Grove Worldwide, the crane manufacturer coming to Salem, told Heath last week that his company is "very happy" with the people applying for jobs.
Heath said he has been "very busy," working with a "pretty steady" number of prospects looking for new locations.
The low unemployment figure came as a surprise even to the VEC.
"I didn't think I'd ever see a rate that low in Roanoke," said Marjorie Skidmore, VEC job service manager in Roanoke.
"We saw a pretty significant pickup in job orders" from employers in April, she said. April and October are the best months for low unemployment, Skidmore said. Outside activity is good and college students are not artificially inflating the figures, she said.
The April drop in unemployment came before a layoff of about 200 Singer Furniture employees in Roanoke in early May, and doesn't factor in the layoff of about 240 ITT employees announced for later this summer.
Some construction workers, based in Roanoke and working in other areas, apparently were called back to their jobs last month, Mezger said. He reported gains in trade jobs during the Easter season.
April usually is the lowest unemployment month in the first half of the year, coming just before college students swell the ranks of job-seekers, Mezger said.
He predicts that the state unemployment rate will rise to 3.5 percent or 3.6 percent in May, when students enter the labor force.
In April, the number of people drawing jobless benefits in the Roanoke area was 1,049, 500 fewer than the March level. New claims for unemployment benefits was up 33 to an average of 197 per week in April.
Unemployment in Lynchburg in April was 4.2 percent, down .2 percent; Richmond-Petersburg was down .5 percent to 3.6; Hampton Roads fell from 4.1 to 4 percent. The national jobless rate for April was 5.2 percent, down from 5.4 in March.
Mezger said the Roanoke area average weekly manufacturing wage in April was $448.92, down $34.25 from March. He said the decrease was mainly a result of furloughs the week after Easter. The average number of factory hours worked was down by 1.7 to 38.8. The average hourly rate paid in Roanoke area factories was $11.57, down 36 cents from April.
Jobless rates in other areas of Western Virginia, with March percentage figures in parentheses:
Bedford City and County, 3 percent (4 percent); Buena Vista-Rockbridge County, 4.6 percent (5); Martinsville, 4.8 percent (6); Galax, 4.9 percent (5.8), and Norton-Wise County, 7.2 percent (9.3).
The rates for other counties: Bland, 3.5 percent (3.7); Bath, 12.1 percent (18.8); Buchanan, 7 percent (7.9); Carroll, 4.4 percent (5.4); Craig, 4.2 percent (5.3), and Dickenson,12.7 percent (15.7).
Also, Floyd, 4.5 percent (6.5); Giles, 7.7 percent (10.1); Grayson, 5.1 percent (6.3); Smyth, 6.7 percent (10.6); Tazewell, 5.4 percent (6.7) and Washington 4.6 percent (4.9).
Figures for Alleghany County and Covington-Clifton Forge were not available.
by CNB