A year after the coronavirus pandemic pulled the rug out from Dalton’s carpet-based economy and left one of every five workers unemployed, jobs are again plentiful in America’s carpet capital.
The Georgia Department of Labor said Thursday that employment in metropolitan Dalton fell to a mere 3.8% in May, the lowest monthly level for Dalton in more than seven years and a rate below both the state and national averages for May. For the first time in years, Dalton’s jobless rate also was below its northern neighbor in Chattanooga where the jobless rate was at 3.9% in May.
“The residential construction industry is on a tear right now and that’s benefiting areas like Dalton with its floor covering industry,” said Jeff Humphreys, director of the Selig Center at the University of Georgia. “Both new construction and remodeling really took off during the pandemic as more people were home and decided to invest more in where they live.”
The world’s biggest floor covering companies, including Mohawk Industries, Shaw Industries and Dixie Group, are headquartered in the Dalton and Calhoun area where more than 20,000 people work in jobs related to the floor covering industry.
When the pandemic forced carpet mills to shut down in April 2020, the jobless rate shot up in metro Dalton to an all-time high of 19.8%.