ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, November 2, 1996             TAG: 9611040029
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: A-7  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER

PEOPLE MAY BE UNDEREMPLOYED, NOT UNEMPLOYED

The Roanoke region's jobless rate fell a smidgen to 2.8 percent in September from 2.9 percent a year ago, state labor officials said Friday.

The number of unemployed people fell 7 percent from 3,810 to 3,560, the Virginia Employment Commission said. The biggest drop was in the group collecting an unemployment check, which fell 50 percent from 1,359 to 673. The data is for Roanoke, Salem, Roanoke County and Botetourt County.

The New River Valley's jobless rate was 4.9 percent in September.

While the report indicates the region has a strong economy, the state's tracking method also "masks" the issue of underemployment, said Carl McDaniels, professor of counselor education at Virginia Tech. McDaniels runs Virginia View, a career information hot line that receives calls from around the state.

McDaniels said he can't say how many people are underemployed, but said studies have shown growing numbers of people in this area work through temporary agencies or work only part time.

Still, the low jobless rate means "there's not any big gap between the skills people have and the skills that are wanted in the workplace," McDaniels said.

At the same time, employers may find hiring difficult. With jobs plentiful, they are competing "for what is becoming a scarce resource - the work force," said Joe Sgroi, personnel director for Roanoke County and head of the area chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management.

The jobless rate is probably the lowest for the region since at least the late 1960s, said Bill Mezger, senior economist at the commission.

During the past year, manufacturing employment fell by about 0.5 percent. The number of positions in services grew 1.5 percent. This pattern has been repeated for a number of years.

The average wage paid to manufacturing workers fell from $13.53 to $13.38. Service industry wages aren't tracked on a monthly basis. The wage was estimated at $10.48 on April 1, the latest figure available.

LENGTH: Short :   44 lines
ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC:  Chart: Unemployment rates.