Dalton, Georgia, job market was strong before coronavirus

FILE - This April 22, 2014, file photo shows an employment application form on a table at a job fair in Hudson, N.Y. Middle-age white Americans with limited education are increasingly dying younger, on average, than other middle-age U.S. adults, a trend driven by their dwindling economic opportunities, research by two Princeton University economists has found. The economists, Anne Case and Angus Deaton, argue in a paper released Thursday, March 23, 2017, that the loss of steady middle-income jobs for those with high school degrees or less has triggered broad problems for this group. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File) FILE - This April 22, 2014, file photo shows an employment application form on a table at a job fair in Hudson, N.Y. Middle-age white Americans with limited education are increasingly dying younger, on average, than other middle-age U.S. adults, a trend driven by their dwindling economic opportunities, research by two Princeton University economists has found. The economists, Anne Case and Angus Deaton, argue in a paper released Thursday, March 23, 2017, that the loss of steady middle-income jobs for those with high school degrees or less has triggered broad problems for this group. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)

By Dave Flessner, compiler March 27, 2020 1 min read

Ahead of the business and school closings brought on by the COVID-19 virus, the Carpet Capital of Dalton had a jobless rate of 4.4%, one of its lowest levels in the past decade.

Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Dalton added 300 net jobs from January to February and employment in the two-county Dalton metro area was up last month by 500 workers from a year earlier. Although Dalton’s unemployment rate was above Georgia’s statewide average of 3.1% in February, Dalton’s rate was still only.a third of the 13% peak reached a decade ago. Dalton ended February with 65,700 jobs.

But since that data was collected, the U.S. economy has slowed due to widespread shutdowns of restaurants, schools and businesses to limit the spread of the coronavirus and Dalton’s jobless rate is projected to rise this spring and summer.