After 50 weeks working on the loading dock at the Volkswagen plant, Justin Secall thought he was building a career when it abruptly ended in July.
“There was no warning, but when I went to swipe my badge to get in the plant that morning it wouldn’t work and I was out of a job,” the 25-year-old laborer said Thursday while looking for another job at the Tennessee Career Center. “I loved that job, but I’ve got to move on.”
Secall was among 500 temporary workers who lost their jobs with Team 3 Logistics and other temp agencies at the VW plant in Chattanooga this spring and summer after VW sales fell short of initial projections. The displaced VW worker says he is getting his GED certificate and planning to enroll in the police academy.
Despite statewide and nationwide job gains during August, employment declined last month in metropolitan Chattanooga and the local jobless rate remained above both the year-ago level and the comparable U.S. rate, according to August employment figures released Thursday. The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported that Secall was among 2,590 workers who lost their jobs or went back to school in August in the six-county Chattanooga region.
Last month’s jobless rate in metro Chattanooga was down 0.2 percent from July to 8 percent, but remained 0.2 percent above the year-ago level of 7.8 percent. Nationwide, the comparable jobless rate in August was 7.3 percent.