January 30th, 2020 – 1:15 PM
WZQZ Radio –
(Via WZQZ Radio) Chattooga County saw a dramatic jump in the unemployment rate last month, according to numbers that were released by the Georgia Department of Labor on Thursday.
The numbers show that 1,360 Chattooga County residents filed for unemployment benefits during the month of December, 2019. That’s up by 1,028 over the month of November when just 332 people filed unemployment claims.
Chattooga County’s unemployment rate in November was 3.3%; the new unemployment rate for the county is 12.2% – the highest rate the county has seen in quite some time.
While other surrounding counties saw an increase in their unemployment rates for the month of December – none were as dramatic as the increase in Chattooga County. Chattooga County is the only county in the state with double-digit unemployment rates. In fact, according to the state-wide unemployment map released by the Georgia Department of Labor on Thursday, Chattooga County has the highest unemployment rate state-wide.
The closure of the Mohawk Plant in Lyerly last year undoubtedly added to the unemployment numbers jumping in Chattooga County. This month, Mount Vernon Mills announced the closing of their yarn operation in Trion. That move is expected to affect around 100 workers, but some of those workers will be transferred to other jobs in the mill, according to officials at Mount Vernon.
Only eight, of 159 counties in the state have an unemployment rate over 5%