Chattanooga's jobless rate drops to 6.4 percent

Unemployment fell to a seven-month low in the Chattanooga area last month, although household surveys by the Bureau of Labor Statistics continued to show a lack of job growth in the region.

State agencies in both Tennessee and Georgia on Thursday reported lower jobless rates across Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia during September. But the decline was largely because of a decline in the number of people seeking jobs, rather than gains in overall employment.

In the 6-county Chattanooga metropolitan area, unemployment fell in September to 6.4 percent, down from 7.3 percent the previous month. Joblessness fell even more in the 2-county metropolitan area of Dalton, plunging by 1.7 percentage points to 9 percent. In metro Cleveland, Tenn., which includes Bradley and Polk Counties, the jobless rate fell in September by 0.8 percent to 6.2 percent.

Despite the job gains, unemployment still was above the U.S. average of 5.9 percent in 16 of the 18 counties in the Chattanooga trade area. The regional jobless rate was lowest in Tennessee in Franklin County and lowest in Georgia in Catoosa County.

Unemployment was highest in Murray County in Georgia and Van Buren County in Tennessee. But last month was the one of the first in five years in which no county in the region had double-digit unemployment.

Nonetheless, the household surveys from BLS showed no job growth in Dalton, Ga., over the past year and the loss of 3,050 jobs in metro Chattanooga from September 2013 to September 2014.

But state economists question the reliability of the household survey data, noting that a separate employer survey to be released later has been showing consistent job growth across the region.

"The household survey numbers are what they are, but most of the economic indicators suggest the economy is growing and we are adding, not losing jobs," said Dr. Bill Fox, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee, who analyzes the numbers for the state.

Employment agencies on the front-line of the battle for jobs also report an improving job market.

Samantha Regalado, market manager for Omnisource Staffing in Chattanooga, said she continues to see growing demand for workers and she expects to be placing hundreds of more workers in the first quarter of 2015 when Volkswagen begins to ramp up for production of its new Sports Utility Vehicle line.

"We're anticipating anywhere from a 200- to a 500-employee increase in the next quarter," she said. "We're seeing strong growth across all sectors."

In the next couple of months, Amazon, UPS, FedEx and holiday-oriented retailers are expected to hire up to 5,000 local workers to meet the influx of Christmas-related business. That should drive down the jobless rate even more in the final quarter of 2014.

Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 757-6340.

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