Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 1, 1993 TAG: 9304010196
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
MONTGOMERY, PULASKI COUNTY JOBLESSNESS UP
Montgomery and Pulaski counties were the only two of Virginia's 136 localities to have an increase in unemployment in February."The New River Valley as a whole didn't change, but those two counties did go up," said Bill Mezger, a research economist at the Virginia Employment Commission.
In Montgomery County, unemployment went from 7.5 percent in January to 7.8 percent in February, with 135 new unemployment claims filed.
In Pulaski County the unemployment rate jumped from 11.2 percent to 12.3 percent in February. There were 260 new unemployment claims filed.
The New River Valley overall remained unchanged at 9.4 percent.
The state's overall unemployment rate for February was 5.5 percent, down from 6.5. It was the largest monthly decrease in nearly a decade, Mezger said, and a strong sign that Virginia is emerging from the recession.
The mild February weather allowed some builders, real estate companies and recreational facilities to get an early start on spring activities, Mezger said.
Mezger said the New River Valley is just beginning to feel the effects of layoffs at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant.
Nearly 730 arsenal workers lost their jobs Jan. 20 as part of a cost-cutting effort by Hercules, the government-contractor for the plant.
"The New River Valley may see some improvement in the spring, but I don't expect a whole lot," Mezger said.
The arsenal announced another 350 layoffs last month and those workers will be filing unemployment soon.
Despite the layoffs, however, there were some New River Valley localities that saw reductions in unemployment.
Radford dropped from 10.7 percent to 9.8 percent; Giles from 9.7 percent to 9.2 percent; and Floyd from 13.8 percent to 10.3 percent.
Mezger said he is not certain why Floyd's unemployment rate dropped nearly 3 percentage points.
"With small counties like that, it doesn't take many new jobs to change the unemployment rate," he said.
Floyd County had 233 fewer unemployment claims in February than in January.