Seasonal Tobacco Jobs Drop County Unemployment Rate

Source from:  By Laura Keeter Daily Times Staff Writer  10/27/2008

IWCO Direct of Elm City laid off on Thursday 380 people. Merck announced Wednesday that it would cut 7,200 jobs worldwide in the next three years, leaving 335 workers here wondering their fate. Despite the economic slowdown, however, people are still smoking, and the county's unemployment rate got a boost last month when the tobacco processing plants called into work their seasonal workers to process the leaf harvest. Wilson County's rate dropped to 7.9 percent in September from 8.8 percent in August, according to state labor statistics released Friday. During the last part of August and the first part of September, "we had quite a few people who went back to Universal Leaf and Alliance One," said Geneice Hagans, assistant manager of the Wilson office of the state Employment Security Commission/JobLink Center. But Wilson County residents were affected by area layoffs last month. The unemployment office staff helped people laid off from GlaxoSmithKline in Zebulon, Parker Hannifin (formerly known as GNC Corp.), and Fawn Industries in Middlesex, among others, Hagans said. "We have had a variety," she said. "It's been a hodgepodge of everything coming in here." Fawn Industries in Middlesex closed at the end of August and laid off 46 people. It is moving its oerations overseas to be compete with foreign competition. The facility made specialty parts for the automotive industry. Some hiring was also going on in September. The local ESC office got job orders in manufacturing from Emco Wheaton Retail Corp. and job orders from the service industry, such as for nurses aides, she said. Though the monthly rate went down for September, it is 2.1 percentage points higher than a year ago, when the rate was 5.8 percent. That is a result of the downturn in the economy, Hagans said. "Some industries just haven't recovered enough to send people back to work so we're still dealing with people who are unemployed," Hagans said. "The situation right now is not promising. I think we're going to see more layoffs before we see more hiring." Statewide in September, unemployment rates fell in 77 counties, increased in 14, and remained the same in nine. Currituck County had the state's lowest unemployment rate at 3.6 percent. Scotland County had the highest rate at 11.7 percent. In the counties surrounding Wilson: * Edgecombe County's unemployment rate decreased to 11.4 percent in September from 11.5 percent in August * Greene County's unemployment rate fell to 7 percent in September from 7.4 percent in August; * Johnston County's unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent in September from 6.3 percent in August * Nash County's unemployment rate dropped to 8.6 percent in September from 9 percent in August * Pitt County's unemployment rate fell to 7 percent in September from 7.5 percent in August * Wayne County's unemployment rate decreased to 6.3 percent in September from 6.7 percent in August. The state unemployment rate rose to 7 percent in September up from 6.9 percent in August. The U.S. rate remained at 6.1 percent. Enditem