Hyde, Dare counties see double-digit jobless rate

By Connie Sage

Correspondent

The jobless rate continues to climb in northeastern North Carolina, with Hyde and Dare counties joining Chowan with percentages in double digits.

Unemployment in Dare County shot up from 8.1 to 12.1 percent between November and December, according to statistics released Friday by the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina.

Chowan County's jobless rate inched up from 10.5 to 11 percent for the same period, and Hyde County's unemployment rate climbed from 7.5 to 11.1 percent.

The unemployment rate increased in 97 of the state's 100 counties in December - the latest figures available - with 34 counties now showing double-digit jobless rates, compared with 17 in November.

The state's unadjusted unemployment rate is 8.5 percent, reflecting 383,528 residents without work. Nationally, unemployment stood at 11.2 million - or 7.2 percent of the labor force - in December, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

"Every corner of North Carolina is feeling the effects of our national economy," Employment Security Commission Chairman Moses Carey Jr. said in a news release.

Very few building permits are being issued when

"normally this time of year the building industry is cranking up," said Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce President John Bone.

As a result, he said, restaurants and retail stores receive less business and they, in turn, lay off employees.

While there were 33 more building permits issued last year in the Outer Banks compared with 2007, their value dropped from $14 million in 2007 to $10 million in 2008.

W ith real estate sales off, land transfer tax revenue dipped 28 percent last year, he said, from $6.63 million in 2007 compared with $4.75 million in 2008.

The best reflection of a worsening economy is in food stamp applications, said Ben Rose, director of the Chowan County Department of Social Services.

Since July, there has been a nearly 11 percent increase in the number of residents receiving food stamps, Rose said, from 2,378 to 2,632 in December.

Food banks also are seeing an increase in traffic.

The Edenton-Chowan Food Pantry, which currently gives out food two days a week, in March will add a third day to deal with the increasing number of those needing assistance.

Food Pantry Director Ray Wells said a year ago the pantry was serving 130 families; it now helps 200.

"In January, 26 of those were first-time families," he said.

Walt Fulcher, who heads the Hatteras Island Food Pantry, said 160 people from 55 families received food in January, about double the number from the same time last year.

Ricky Coletrain, Employment Security Commission director for Chowan County, expects the numbers of the unemployed will continue to rise. In 2007, some 2,200 unemployed or underemployed came to his office, compared with about 3,000 last year, he said.