Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 11, 1992 TAG: 9203110071
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Virginia Employment Commission reported Tuesday that the Roanoke metro jobless rate rose to 5.9 percent in January, while Virginia's rate was up to 7.1 percent.
Roanoke's jobless rate was the highest since July 1983, when it reached 6.8 percent. It was 5 percent in December and 4 percent a year ago.
The state's January rate was up from 5.5 percent in December and 5.9 percent a year earlier.
But job openings gradually have increased since those rates were recorded, according to Marjorie Skidmore, job services manager for the Virginia Employment Commission in Roanoke. "It looks like March might be a good month" for employment, she said.
Seasonal layoffs by catalog companies and retail stores, an idle construction industry and a small decline in manufacturing accounted for most of Roanoke's jobless numbers, the VEC said. Year-end cutbacks in retailing and furloughs at Ford Motor Co.'s truck assembly plant in Norfolk and at textile plants pushed up the state rate, the VEC said.
Skidmore said the number of job openings received in her office is running about 18 percent below the level projected for the current fiscal year. That is an improvement from December and January, she said.
Although catalog companies have not rehired the part-time people they laid off after Christmas, retailing and construction hiring is expected to pick up by April, Skidmore said.
Roanoke still seems to be doing better than most of the major areas of the state, said William F. Mezger, the VEC's research economist. All major areas had higher unemployment in January; Northern Virginia's 4.4 percent was the only rate lower than the Roanoke figure.
The number of people at work in the Roanoke area dropped 1,700 from December to January. There were reductions of 1,300 in trade and mail order, 300 in construction and mining, 200 in manufacturing and 100 in textiles and 100 in finance, insurance and real estate. They were partly offset by a gain of 300 jobs in services.
The number of area jobless drawing unemployment benefits in January was 2,343, down from 2,382 in December but higher than the 1,767 reported a year ago.
The number of new claims for jobless benefits was down to an average of 493 a week from 665 in December and 940 a year ago.
February normally is a month of low employment "and I don't think the numbers will change a lot," Mezger said.
In other metropolitan areas, Lynchburg unemployment rose from 5.4 percent to 6.7 percent; Richmond's rate went up from 5.1 percent to 6.3 percent, and Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News from 5.6 percent to 7.2 percent.
In other Western Virginia localities:
Bedford and Bedford County had 6.5 percent unemployment in January, up from 4.8 percent in December; Radford area, 11.5 percent, up from 9.1 percent; Covington-Clifton Forge, 12.6 percent, up from 9.8 percent; Galax area, 10.1 percent, up from 7.5 percent, and Martinsville area, 9.2 percent, up from 6.9 percent.
Among the counties, Bath had the highest rate in the state. Its 30.4 percent was up from 19.5 percent. Mezger said despite the large percentage-point increase, the number of jobless is about 200 people.
Bland had 6.6 percent, up from 5.8 percent; Buchanan, 14.8 percent, up from 12 percent; Carroll, 10.2 percent, up from 7.8 percent; Craig, 9.1 percent, up from 7.3 percent; Floyd, 15 percent, up from 10.9 percent; Giles, 15.5 percent, up from 12.5 percent; Grayson, 10.4 percent, up from 7.6 percent, and Pulaski, 11 percent, up from 8.9 percent.
Montgomery had 10 percent, up from 8.1 percent; Smyth, 14.2 percent, up from 8.7 percent; Tazewell, 13.9 percent, up from 10.9 percent; Washington, 8.2 percent, up from 6.1 percent, and Wythe, 10.4 percent, up from 5.9 percent.
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on March 12, 1992\ A chart accompanying a Business page story Wednesday about unemployment rates incorrectly labeled rates for December 1991.
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Memo: Correction