Dalton's Rising Unemployment Rate

Joseph Crosby has been looking for a job the past two weeks.

"Since i've come down to Dalton, Georgia, I've basically only been through temp agencies. There hasn't been much employment since I've been own here. And temp agencies hire you on for only a month, two months at a time."

He's lived in the area about a year, is raising a family, and, he says, has a stellar work record.

"I have a college education, I've worked at places such as America Online, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and it's just ridiculous that it's that hard to find work in Dalton at this point."

And he's not alone.

Recent figures from the Georgia Department of Labor show the Dalton metro area's unemployment rate is inching above Georgia's unemployment rate. "It's higher than what we typically see," says George Woodward with the Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce, "and that's driven by the current housing situation and then the result in downturn in residential carpet production."

A large part of the economy in the area comes from manufacturing--specifically carpet manufacturing.

The Georgia Department of Labor says the layoffs that's come from the sector have only been temporary.

"A lot of it is temporary unemployment," says Alan Proctor with the Georgia Department of Labor.

"We see a lot of people that come through the doors that may be unemployed for a week or two and be back to work."

Alan Proctor and Kathy Williams with the Department of Labor's Dalton office say there are more factors that account for the unemployment spike.

Among them, they say, more people are moving into the area.

"It's not really lost jobs," says Williams, "it's that there are more people looking for work, and that would account for it."

The Department of Labor is usually one of the places any construction or manufacturing job would call, and according to Proctor they're not calling right now.

And for Crosby, it's day in and day out, looking for a job.

"I've been down here every day for two weeks since i've been released from my employment with the temp agency and unfortunately there's nothing available," he says.

Woodward say things could return to normal in the job market there as early as next year, provided the housing market improves.