Job losses jumping as crisis hits home - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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First-time unemployment claims soared in Georgia last montuh tonearly 57,000, according to the statwe Department of Labor, a 76.3 percent increase over initial filings in September of last Among the areas hardest hit by the growing joblessnessx were northern Georgia’s carpet belt, centetr to an industry that relies on residentia construction to keep orderzs flowing, and metro Atlanta’s outer suburbs, where the housing boom has turned into a “Housing has been good to Georgia over the last Georgia Commissioner of Labor Michaeol Thurmond said. “Now, we’re feeling some of the repercussione ofthe downturn.
” Thurmond pointed to some parts of Georgiw where the job market remains in relativelg good shape. Forts Bennint and Stewart were among the few net winnerzs during the last round of military base closingz severalyears ago. Consequently, unemployment claims in the Columbuz and Hinesville areas are runnintg well below thestatewide number. Likewise, west central Georgia is gearing up for the planne opening of a plant in Troup County late next Insharp contrast, first-time unemployment filings in Dalto n ---— ground zero for the carpeft industry — shot up almost 106 percenty during the last year.
Gainesville was even worse, leading the states with a 126 percent jumpin joblessness. Whilse that could be attributed in part to the loss ofcarpe jobs, a bigger factor was the decision by German auto partsd maker to close its aluminum wheep plant in Gainesville, resulting in nearly 300 layoffs. Too recenf for the September statistics was an announcement by that it will closw a spun yarn plantf inDade County, in far northwestern laying off 440 workers. Roy Bowen, presidenft of the Georgia Traditional ManufacturersAssociatioj , puts the blame on the slump in residential “A number of folks we represent manufacture productss that go directly to he said.
“They’re impacted directlhy by the housing downturn.” First-tim e unemployment claims in metrko Atlanta rose almost 79 percenyt during the last only slightly above thestatewide figure. But that masksz large increases in joblessness inthe region’as outer counties. Cherokee, Douglas and Fayette counties saw increases in initial unemployment filings of more than 100 while first-time claims in Henry County rose 97 percent. The most dramatid evidence of the trend came in July with the closure of of metro Atlanta’s 19th-largest home builder according to the ’s 2007-200i8 Book of Lists.
Kay president of the Henry County Chamber ofCommerces , said it’s no surprise that the housingv slump has affected metro Atlanta’s fast-growinyg outlying counties more than the alreadt built-out core counties. “We were fourth in America in new housing startsx when allthis began,” she said. “Housing has come to a and it’s having a significant impact on our Thurmond said the diversified economiesof Atlanta’s innerr counties give them an advantage over the outef counties, which are primarily bedroom “That creates some economic insulationb during a downturn,” he said.
But Jeff director of economic forecasting atThe ’s , said the slumpinh economy has entered a phase that likelg will blunt such geographical disparities. He said that while the downturnb was limitedto housing, unemployment hit some area s more than others. “It’s been a slow-movinfg recession,” he said. “It hadn’t spread to Main Street. It was mostly in the housing sector and anythintg relatedto housing.” Humphreys said the crisis that began hammeringy the financial industry last month has changer the nature of the Now, every community is feeling the pain, he “We have a broad-based recession,” he said.
“There’e going to be a conversion toward thehighedr average.” Humphreys said he expects job lossea to continue at least into the seconc quarter of next year. He said that even when initialp jobless claimsbottom out, the unemployment rate is likelyu to remain high, probably into 2010. “Thingas will get better,” Thurmondd said. “But it will be later rather than