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The jobless statistics in the Mecklenburg, Union and York areas are still grim. But some people who know the region say they see new jobs budding.
“People are going back to work,” said Linda Ejlali, manager of the JobLink Career Center office in Matthews. JobLink is a state government-run agency that helps people all over N.C. find jobs. “I say that cautiously. I know what the statistics show and they're accurate. But we place people in jobs all over Mecklenburg County.”
Economic development leaders in Union and York counties also say they see new jobs on the horizon.
Rob Youngblood, head of the York County Chamber pointed to a host of recent announcements that he described as “small victories” during the recession.
The announcements included: Honeywell's expansion that will open up 80 jobs; a new Wal-Mart store that will have 375 employees; FedEx will open a distribution center that will hire 150 workers; Liberty National Life Insurance will hire 100 new sales positions.
Maurice Ewing of Union County's Partners for Progress said he had met earlier last week with a company considering an expansion in Monroe. He said that could mean 36 new jobs. He wouldn't give more details.
“We won't know until the company makes a decision,” he said. “But it could be a significant expansion. It's 36 jobs.”
Randall Darnell, manager of Union County's Employment Security office, says he's not seeing new job openings, but he isn't seeing new layoffs, either.
In Mecklenburg County, Ejlali said she's seeing a lot of new businesses and restaurants hiring. And people are getting temporary jobs.
She also said there's talk of a company coming to Mecklenburg that will hire “hundreds” of people.
“But that's for them to reveal, not me,” she said.
Last week, national reports suggested the recession may be ending.
That's while jobless stats from Mecklenburg, Union and York counties reflect the rest of the nation – high unemployment and few jobs.
A recent Wall Street Journal story noted that the U.S. has record low job openings, 2.4million based on Labor Department statistics.
July numbers from the N.C. Employment Security Commission show unemployment in Mecklenburg County at 11.7percent and York County at 15.2percent, both slightly higher than June. In Union County unemployment was 10.8percent, slightly lower than the previous month.
More than 53,000 people are without jobs in Mecklenburg, more than 9,000 in Union County and just under 8,000 in York County.
Despite that picture, experts see hope that may not be reflected yet in the numbers.
Joblink's Ejlali pointed to a recent Observer story about people finding jobs through social networks such as Twitter.
“You've got to have the training,” she said. “Then, if you've got the skills…you've got to sell yourself. But I'll tell anyone, people are going to work.”
