Surry Business

Surry County’s unemployment rate in September rose to 5.8 percent, 0.2 percent higher than in the preceding month and the highest level since February 2006. Slightly more than 2,000 were jobless and seeking work in September, up 57 from August, the N.C. Employment Security Commission reported today. The estimated size of the local labor force […]

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The U.S. Department of Labor has released more than $5.2 million to help North Carolina provide career training, job search and relocation assistance to workers who have lost their jobs for reasons related to trade. The Trade Adjustment Assistance Act program also extends unemployment benefits from 26 weeks up to two years. This latest allocation […]

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Surry County’s unemployment rate rose 0.2 percent in August, the North Carolina Employment Security Commission reported today, and the number of unemployed people increased by 52 from July to 1,956, the highest number since January. The size of Surry County’s resident labor force dropped slightly, by 50 people, to 34,920. That total is down 0.5 […]

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Workers go where they can best use their skills and enjoy life. That often means a “brain drain” from rural areas. Dr. Mark Drabenstott, a vice-president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and the director of the Center for the Study of Rural America (now the bank’s Regional, Public and Community Affairs Division), […]

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The N.C. Employment Security Commission’s new Surry County office manager is Bobbi Wessling, a 16-year ESC employee who previously was assistant manager of the office in Forsyth County. Wessling succeeded Wanda Cooper, who retired after more than 30 years with the ESC. A native of the Atlantic City, N.J., area, Wessling received bachelor’s and master’s […]

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It’s well known that North Carolina has lost thousands of jobs in the past 10 years because textile and clothing companies  have moved manufacturing or purchasing overseas. Mount Airy alone has lost nearly 3,300 jobs in textile manufacturing, sock making and other apparel since 2000. What’s less recognized is how retail, construction and service jobs […]

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Sunday’s edition of the Winston-Salem Journal puts a personal face on the plight of unemployed textile workers in Surry County and how they’re preparing themselves for future jobs. The article by Sherry Youngquist and Richard Craver focuses on Nancy Pruitt, 53, whose 37 years in textile mills ended on July 13 (coincidentally, her birthday) and […]

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Surry County had more than 35,000 people in its workforce this summer, according to the North Carolina Employment Security Commission. Seasonal workers — primarily high school and college students — added about 400 people to the workforce. Approximately 1,900 people in the local labor force were out of work and receiving unemployment compensation, according to […]

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Surry County’s high schools in 2006 reported the fifth-highest graduation rate in North Carolina, according to new data from the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center and the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. NCDPI defines “graduation rate” as “the percent of students graduating from high school four years after entering 9th grade.” Surry County has […]

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