Philip D. Brown

Richmond County Daily Journal

Richmond County was one of only 16 counties in North Carolina to see its unemployment rate drop in May.

The county’s jobless rate declined four-tenths of a percentage point to 14.2 percent, even as the statewide number went up the same about to 11.1 percent.

“The activity is picking up, people are starting to hire,” said ESC Local Office Manager Judy Carpenter. “Our numbers went down a little bit, and that helps. Every point helps.”

She said much of the positive change in the local job market can be attributed to Big Rock Sports and BE&K Construction beginning to take on employees.

Big Rock Sports was announced as the occupant of a Richmond County distribution complex in April.

BE&K is the construction company that has been awarded a contract with Progress Energy to build the $600 million Richmond County Energy Complex off Airport Road.

Progress Spokesman Mike Hughes confirmed site preparation is underway on the project, and it is on schedule. At its peak, the work is expected to employ 500 people.

In addition to the new employers, Carpenter pointed out the fact Perdue, Cascades and von Drehle continue to take applications and stay active in the employment market.

North Carolina is leaking jobs at a slightly slower pace than the country as a whole, according to a release from the ESC of North Carolina. It reported the nation as a whole lost .5 percent of its jobs in May.

“While we continue to have job announcements in areas across North Carolina, we are still experiencing job losses in many sectors, this (is) also being seen across the country,” ESC Chairman Moses Carey said in the release. “We continue to focus our efforts on assisting customers in finding work by matching them with employers and providing unemployment insurance, which helps stabilize communities as workers go through a transition.”

North Carolina shed about 4,000 government jobs and 3,800 manufacturing jobs in the month of May, which was slightly offset by the creation of 2,900, typically lower-paying jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector.

Richmond’s neighbor Scotland County maintained the distinction of the county with the highest unemployment rate at 17.2 percent. This figure is actually down from 17.3 in April.

In addition, neighboring Anson County saw its rate rise 1.8 percent to eclipse 15 percent, and Montgomery County’s rate went up .2 percent to reach 13.9.

Moore County’s rate rose .6 percent to 10.2.

Hoke remained the only surrounding county to maintain a jobless rate below 10 percent. Its unemployment rate was 8.5 in May.

Also in the release, the ESC documents nearly $3 billion in. unemployment insurance benefits have been paid out by the ESC since June 2008.

Carey says the money “helps stabilize communities as workers go through a transition.”

Richmond County received nearly $15 million of the more than $2.8 billion that has been paid out across the state.

“Clearly, if they’re getting unemployment, that’s better than nothing,” Carpenter said. “It helps them pay their bills, and of course local people will spend that money here. They’re also getting extensions, as well, so people aren’t exhausting their benefits and then getting nothing.”

Mecklenburg County has seen more than $297 million in benefits paid out over the same time period. Mecklenburg’s unemployment reached 11 percent in May.