With help from big projects such as the new Volkswagen plant — and a number of smaller but significant other projects — Chattanooga has been spared some of the extremely high unemployment rates that have hit many other parts of the country. In November, for instance, Chattanooga-area joblessness was about 8.5 percent, compared with nearly 10 percent nationwide. An 8.5 percent unemployment rate is not exactly “good news,” of course, but it means we are clearly better off than many of our fellow citizens elsewhere.
Sadly, though, just a short trip down Interstate 75 in Dalton, Ga., the economic picture is far less sunny. Dalton, the “Carpet Capital,” as it is known, is suffering tremendously from the lengthy downturn in the construction and housing markets.
In November, the Dalton area’s unemployment rate hit an extraordinarily painful 13.2 percent. That is the “official” rate, which unfortunately does not account for Dalton-area workers — perhaps numbering in the thousands — who want full-time work but have had to settle for part-time jobs. Nor does it account for those who have simply given up the job search in frustration. The combined unemployment and “underemployment” rate would be much higher than just the official rate of 13.2 percent joblessness.
And to put Dalton’s unemployment figure in perspective, the area has the highest rate of joblessness of any of Georgia’s 14 metro areas.
We are humbly grateful for economic development successes that have kept unemployment relatively lower in Chattanooga. But we sympathize with our neighbors across the state line and wish similar success for them — and, indeed, for the rest of our nation in the new year.
Meanwhile, those of us who are fortunate enough to have jobs and income should reach out to help those who, through no fault of their own, have lost their jobs. Christmas may be past, but its spirit of good will should not be abandoned.