| 115th Year, 24th Issue | Thursday, January 22, 2004 | Sparta, North Carolina |
Western North Carolina's economy grew 0.5 percent in November, according to the Western North Carolina Economic Index.
The index, which measures economic activity in 25 western North Carolina counties, has increased 4.2 percent over the past year.
"The economy has established a trend of economic growth over the past three quarters, and we are finally seeing this growth positively impact the labor market," said Todd Cherry, an economics professor and co-author of the Western North Carolina Economic Index.
Regional employment increased in November, marking the third straight month of job growth in the region.
"This is notable. It's the first time we have had consecutive months of job growth in more than three years," said Cherry.
Seasonally adjusted employment in WNC grew by 0.3 percent in November. The state experienced a 0.1 percent increase for the same month. The region's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points in November to 6.3 percent. Separating the region's metro and rural areas, the authors report that rural counties experienced a 0.4 percentage point decline in unemployment while the region's two metro areas did not see unemployment fall in November. Employment conditions appear poised for continued improvement, according to the report.
Seasonally-adjusted claims for unemployment insurance, a leading indicator of unemployment, declined in the region by 15.3 percent.
"Initial claims are substantially lower across the region, so the job situation should continue to improve in the near term," Cherry said.
But while the region's economy is growing, Cherry said that there is a lot of ground to recover, as jobs lost in the textile and furniture sectors won't necessarily return with the economy's upswing.
"While the service industries will remain a strong sector of job growth for some areas of the region, any return of manufacturing employment for other areas will generally arise outside the textile and furniture industries," he said.
Locally, Alleghany County's unemployment rate was listed as 7.25 percent, or 14 among the 25 counties in the region. That rate indicated an improvement from October's figure of 7.94 percent and also from September's rate of 8.2 percent and August's rate of 8.89 percent.
The county's unemployment rate one year ago — November 2002 — was 10.92 percent. Alleghany's improvement over the last year of 3.67 percent shows the greatest amount of improvement among all 25 counties in the region.
Meanwhile, Alleghany's contiguous counties showed mixed results on unemployment. Neighboring Ashe County's November rate of 5.74 percent, even though better than the rate in Alleghany, indicates in increase in unemployment from October's rate of 5.40 percent. Ashe's unemployment in November of 2002 was 8.26 percent.
Wilkes County's November rate was listed as 7.41 percent, down from 7.75 percent the month prior. Surry County is not included in the Western N.C. region on the report.
The WNC Economic Index and Report provides a monthly account of economic conditions for Western North Carolina.
It is released the fifth week following each month. To see the entire
report, visit www.business.appstate.edu/wncindex.asp.
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