Business
Area job losses mount
Metro Dalton lost the third most jobs of any area in Georgia — 4,100 — from December 2007 to December 2008 as the state unemployment rate climbed to 8.1 percent, the Department of Labor reported Thursday.
Metro Dalton, which includes Whitfield and Murray counties, lost 800 jobs from November 2008 to December 2008. Many of those job losses can be traced to the floorcovering industry, the top employer in those two counties, which has been battered by the national recession.
One floorcovering industry observer doesn’t expect the industry to improve until the overall economy shows signs of life.
“I guess the main question there is how long is this recession going to continue?” said Dave Foster, host of the morning talk show “Floor Radio” on WBLJ 1230 AM. “It seems to me that the people I pay attention to are saying if anything happens in 2009, it’s going to be pretty much at the end of the year. I suspect what that means is we’re not going to see any real recovery until maybe the first quarter or maybe later of next year.”
North Georgia is reeling from the slumping floorcovering industry. The housing market, which has slowed significantly in both new construction and existing sales, has also hurt floorcovering sales. Although the cost of oil has dropped recently, high raw material costs are affecting companies. Those combined factors have led to job losses and cuts in workers’ hours.
Calhoun-based Mohawk Industries, the world’s largest floorcovering company, has laid off at least 1,200 workers in the past year, including 1,020 job cuts reported to the state labor department. Most recently, the company said it will lay off 73 workers at a carpet backing plant in Waynesboro, Va.
Shaw Industries, headquartered in Dalton, said it planned to cut 3 percent of its North Georgia work force near the end of 2008. J&J; Industries, a commercial floorcovering maker also based in Dalton, has cut about 50 jobs through retirement, attrition and cuts since the start of the year. J&J; employs about 700 in the Dalton area.
While Metro Dalton ranked third in job losses behind Atlanta (82,000) and Augusta (5,100), it had the largest percentage of job losses in the state at 5.2 percent. In one year, Metro Dalton went from 78,400 jobs to 74,300 jobs.
The labor department will release the December 2008 unemployment rate for counties and metro areas later this month. In November 2008, Metro Dalton’s jobless rate was 10.4 percent.
The state unemployment rate is the highest in almost 26 years. The jobless rate was up 3.6 percent from 4.5 percent at the same time last year. The unemployment rate was up .7 percent from a revised 7.4 percent in November 2008.
The last time Georgia posted a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate this high was in March 1983 when the rate was also 8.1 percent. The state rate remained above the national rate of 7.2 percent for the eleventh straight month. There are 393,168 unemployed Georgians looking for work. Of that number, 156,719, or 40 percent, are drawing unemployment insurance benefits.
In the last year, the number of payroll jobs decreased 121,800, or 2.9 percent. Jobs were lost in construction, manufacturing and trade, along with business and professional services, including temporary employment agencies. Jobs were added in education, the federal government and health care.
In Whitfield County, the jobless rate was 10.5 percent in November, up from 9 percent in October and 4.7 percent in November 2007. In Murray County, the unemployment rate was 10.1 percent in November, up from 8.4 percent in October and 4.6 percent in November 2007.
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Clauson joins Mohawk as vp of brand management
Kent Clauson has joined Mohawk Industries as vice president of brand management, a newly created position. He will be responsible for brand strategy for all Mohawk commercial and residential brands across all brand channels.
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