Economy up, jobs still down, says Index

Alleghany County was among the top three counties in the region for rising unemployment figures, according to the Western North Carolina Economic Index.

According to data in the report, Alleghany’s unemployment rate for November rose to 4.86 percent for a ranking of 13 in the 25-county region, up from 4.33 percent the previous month. The unemployment rate was still down significantly here from November 2003’s rate of 7.27. The decrease in rate of 2.41 percent was the second largest drop over the period in the region, with Transylvania County having the largest decrease — 3.42 percent — over the past year to a current rating of 5.88 percent.

Meanwhile, Alleghany’s contiguous counties also saw little improvement in their unemployment. Wilkes County’s rate rose from 5.65 percent to 6.03 percent unemployment. In Ashe County, unemployment showed marginal improvement, down to 4.77 percent from 4.81 percent. Surry County is not included in the WNC report.

Even with the bleak employment picture, Western North Carolina economic activity, increased 0.2 percent in November 2004. The index, which tracks the level of economic activity in 25 western North Carolina counties, returned to positive growth after a slight decrease in October. The regional economy has grown at a 3.2 percent annual rate during the past six months and a 4 percent annual rate over the past twelve months.

Regional seasonally adjusted employment for the 25-county area decreased 0.14 percent in November. November was the fourth consecutive month of job losses for the region. WNC has experienced a 1.8 percent decline in employment over the past 12 months.

Employment increased 0.1 percent in the state, but Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir and Asheville experienced decreases in employment — 0.38 and 0.22 percent, respectively.

Mapping the growth in employment over the preceding month provides a county-level account of job creation. Fourteen of the 25 WNC counties experienced job losses in November. Job losses were concentrated again in the central foothills and western counties. Job growth was largely felt in the northern and southeastern counties.

The seasonally adjusted rate of unemployment for the WNC region remained unchanged in November at 5.2 percent. The state unemployment rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 5.0, while the national rate remained unchanged at 5.4 percent.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate within the region’s rural counties increased 0.1 points in November to 4.9 percent.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir decreased 0.4 percentage points to 6.8 percent in November. The unemployment rate in Asheville increased 0.1 points to 3.5 percent. County-level seasonally adjusted unemployment rates decreased in 15 of the 25 counties in November. Caldwell, Madison and Burke counties experienced the largest declines in unemployment. Besides Alleghany, Mitchell and Cherokee counties had the largest increases in unemployment.

County-level unemployment is generally lower than 12 months ago. Only two of the 25 WNC counties have higher unemployment rates than 12 months ago.

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