The statistics are ominous.
Joblessness in North Carolina soared to a 25-year high in November after employers cut 46,000 jobs. In the Charlotte region, unemployment was 7.1 percent in October, which tied August for the highest rate since at least 1990.
The number of people unemployed in the state is at a record 359,319 – and that [...]
Entries from December 2008
December 29, 2008
Employment: Bright spots remain for jobs
December 26, 2008
Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce New Job Board is Live
As reported by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce ‘Chamber E-News’:
Chamber Partners with LocalJobs.com
It is with great enthusiasm that we announce the newest addition to our website – Asheville Jobs. The new job board is a collaborative partnership between the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and LOCALJOBS.COM. Asheville Jobs will facilitate connecting existing and [...]
December 26, 2008
3rd Annual Homecoming Job Fair Set for Tuesday
As noted on the Asheville Chamber of Commerce website:
The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce has partnered with numerous workforce and industry allies to promote employment opportunities in advanced manufacturing, health care, and other growth industries in Western North Carolina. Residents, students, graduates, former residents, and friends and family visiting over the holidays are [...]
December 26, 2008
Newspapers: Defensive, Depressed and Desperate?
As research, I’ve been following a GoogleNews search for “newspapers” and this weekend alone was revealing as I heard a chorus of newspaper people singing in harmony but in a minor key: defensive, depressed, desperate, and sometimes downright dizzy. Here’s a sampling of what everyone’s saying:
Jon Talton in the Seattle Times echoes Jack Shafer in [...]
December 23, 2008
McClatchy (Parent of Charlotte Observer) stock hits all-time low
McClatchy Co., parent of The Charlotte Observer, fell nearly 16 percent in Tuesday trading after dropping more than 13 percent on Monday.
Shares of the nation’s third-largest newspaper chain closed at 75 cents per share Tuesday. The company’s stock dropped to 65 cents per share in trading during the day, an all-time low.
Yahoo Finance says McClatchy’s [...]
December 23, 2008
N.C. among fastest-growing states
North Carolina is among the five fastest-growing states in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Tar Heel State’s population increased 2 percent between July 2007 and July 2008.
Utah was the nation’s fastest-growing state. Its population climbed 2.5 percent. Arizona was the second fastest-growing state, increasing 2.3 percent. Texas, North Carolina and Colorado [...]
December 18, 2008
84 Lumber closes West Knox truss plant
Effects from the recession are still reverberating through the area economy, with 84 Lumber’s West Knoxville truss plant among the companies being hit hard and the U.S. Postal Service closing a facility in Hamilton County.
December 17, 2008
Knoxville mom and pop store still going strong
The slumping economy is having an increasing impact on people and businesses all across the country. But for one mom and pop shop in South Knoxville, business couldn’t be better.
Ron Emery took over the nearly 81-year-old Emery 5 & 10 store on Chapman Highway from his grandfather.
“We have been lucky to beat [...]
December 17, 2008
Eastman Chemical to cut jobs, other costs
Eastman Chemical Co. has announced it will slash costs by more than $100 million in 2009, mostly by cutting jobs, in response to the current economic turmoil.
In a released statement on Wednesday, the Kingsport, Tenn.-based chemical producer said at least $80 million of cost reductions would come from labor, including a reduction in contractors, part-time [...]
December 17, 2008
Hemlock plans $2.2B investment in Tenn., Mich.
Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. announced it will spend more than $2.2 billion to build a new solar technology plant in Tennessee and expand operations in Michigan.
The new plant in Clarksville carries an initial investment of $1.2 billion, though Tennessee officials projected Monday that the total cost could reach $2.5 billion.
The expansion of the company’s existing facility [...]
