Bartow's jobless rate climbs again; analyst sees more job woes this year

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April jobless rates drop in four of five local counties, statewide but . . .

	April 2010 Employed	April  2010 Unemployed	April 2010 % jobless	March 2010 % jobless	April 2009 % jobless
Bartow	40,353	5,500	12%	11.8%	10.2%
Chattooga	9,047	1,148	11.3%	11.7%	13.3%
Floyd	44,383	4,971	10.1%	10.9%	9.6%
Gordon	21,025	3,095	12.8%	13.6%	11.8%
Polk	18,585	2,210	10.6%	11.1%	10.5%
State	4,244,459	460,777	10.4%	10.5%	9.2%

Source: Georgia Department of Labor

-What's good: The five-county April jobless report shows mostly decreases across the board except in Bartow where 5,500 remained unemployed last month.

-More good: Chattooga's numbers were actually better in April vs. the same month last year. Floyd, Bartow, Gordon and Polk were all higher than 12 months earlier.

-What to watch for: Higher unemployment numbers are Pierre Foods shuts down in Rome, idling 350 people. Plus don't forget the CCH Small Firm Services move to Kennesaw, taking another nearly 400 jobs out of the market.

-Northwest Georgia's combined jobless rate declined to 10.5 percent in April vs. 11.1 percent in March. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed workers in the area dropped to 42,497 down 2,522 from 45,019 in March.
-The state's unemployment rate declined to 10.4 percent in April, down from a revised 10.5 percent in March and from 9.2 percent at this same time last year.

-New jobs: The state showed a modest increase in new jobs in April for the third consecutive month. The number of jobs increased by 26,900. However, the number of jobs remains less than in April 2009, when there were 3,912,700 payroll jobs, 2.3 percent or 91,100 more than this year.

. . . Georgia State analyst says rough months ahead for employment  

-Random "hiccups" of nature (volcano, oil slick, etc.) combined with turmoil in the "Eurozone" leading to volatile stock markets worldwide will impact recovery from gaining a strong foothold in the United States this year, says Rajeev Dhawan, director of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University's J. Mack Robinson College of Business. In his quarterly forecast released Wednesday, Dhawan said:

-Georgia's employment will remain a negative until year's end. In 2011, expect a moderate recovery: 56,600 new jobs, including 16,900 "premium" jobs. Look for 75,200 jobs in 2012 including 15,600 premium jobs.

-Georgia's unemployment rate will increase significantly to 10.6 percent in 2010. In 2011, unemployment will drop to 10.2 percent; to 9.7 percent in 2012.

-Atlanta's housing permits will increase in 2010 by a strong 35.1 percent following a 66.5 percent decline in 2009. Permit activity will increase in 2011 by 23 percent; single-family permit activity will climb by 21.8 percent. Click Forecast

PowerBall jackpot climbs to $220 million Saturday: No big winner Wednesday night. The numbers: 01-06-10-13-20 and PowerBall 32. Lottery

The Steak House II coming to former Hearth & Harvest: David Edge, owner of The Steak House in Rockmart, confirms he plans to open a second Steak House inside the former Hearth & Harvest restaurant at 650 Henderson Drive. Edge says the lease should be finalized next week and an opening date set for July or August. "The new restaurant will be very similar to The Steak House in Rockmart. The food and service will be exactly the same, but we may have a few new menu items," Edge says. The Cartersville location will be open in the evenings with lunch service planned in the future.

Etowah Valley OB-GYN in Cartersville to join Harbin Clinic June 1: Etowah Valley OB-GYN is one of the largest providers of medical services to women in Bartow County will be joining Harbin Clinic on June 1. Etowah Valley OB-GYN includes the offices of Dr. Ben Warren and Dr. Steven Spivey, along with five midwives and nurse practitioners. The group will move into the Harbin Clinic at Cartersville location at 150 Gentilly Blvd. Harbin

Media

Spiritual Sword Media links with Ringgold's Gospel Broadcasting Network

-Spiritual Sword Media will become Spiritual Media Studios. GBN is available locally on WKSY in Summerville and "reaches millions of viewers on cable systems across the nation, home satellite dishes, three television stations and it streams from their website www.gbntv.org."

Politics

-Tonight/The Floyd County Republican Women are sponsoring a GOP Candidates' Forum, 7-9 p.m., Etowah Senior Citizens Center. Click

-June 10: Rome/Floyd Tea Party breakfast meeting and forum. 7-9 a.m., with state House District 14 Republican hopefuls Greg Bowen, Christian Coomer and Shep Helton. Landmark Restaurant. Click Facebook

Wednesday's Bartow County Jail intake report. Click

Your holiday weekend forecast:

-Thursday: Mostly sunny, high of 90; low of 63. 20% rain chance.

-Friday: 30-40% chance of storms. High of 91, low of 65.

-Saturday: 50% chance of storms, high of 87; low of 64, 30% rain chance.

-Sunday: 40% rain chance, high of 89, low of 66; 20% rain chance.

-Memorial Day: 30% rain chance, high of 86.  

-Extended forecast:  Click  / Regional radar

Norman Arey's Sports Roundtable> Arey  

-The SEC West and the ACC Coastal look to be the toughest divisions in college football. 

Rome Braves> Sports 

-Braves

-Braves at Augusta tonight; home Friday vs. Savannah (fireworks); military appreciation night on Saturday; 2 p.m. game Sunday; 1 p.m. game Monday.

-Mills Fitzner's latest game photos> Click