ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 9, 1996 TAG: 9603120024
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
The 2 feet of snow that fell in early January kept several thousand Roanoke-area workers from their jobs. Although it was only for a day or two, the storm's impact meant state labor analysts were forced to boost the unemployment rate a bit more than usual for January.
The Virginia Employment Commission revealed the storm's affect Friday. The unemployment rate is 4 percent for Roanoke, Salem, Botetourt County and Roanoke County, up from 3.7 percent in December.
But the job market didn't really worsen, said senior economist Bill Mezger at the commission.
Sure, the rate is higher, but "most of that's just the weather," Mezger said.
Other causes, he said, were seasonal downturns in outdoor construction and layoffs of extra retail workers who had been hired just for the holiday shopping season.
The agency expects the job picture will be back to normal when February's report comes out. The Roanoke area's jobless rate has been falling for a year, and the job supply has been growing at an annual rate of more than 3 percent.
In January, however, the state collected its monthly employment data during the week after heavy snows of Jan. 6-7 weekend. Analysts had no choice; statistical methods dictated the data be collected at that time.
"It's like taking a picture. If you have someone walk in front of the camera, that's the picture you are going to get," Mezger said.
The rules also dictated that people who could not work because their offices or plants were closed due to the snow should be counted as unemployed and looking for work, Mezger said.
The jobless rate jumped because the count is based on the number of residents looking for work and the number working. When added together, the sum is called the labor force. The jobless rate is the percentage of jobseekers in the labor force.
Also reported Friday was the number of new claims for unemployment benefits, which rose from 553 in December to 867 in January.
The region's jobless rate for January is lower than the state's rate of 5 percent and the nation's rate of 6.3 percent.
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Charts by staff: Unemployment rates - January 1995,by CNB1996. 1. Roanoke area. 2. New River Valley area. 3. State metro
areas. color.