McDowell Jobless Rate Continues to Drop

Improving unemployment rates for McDowell County can be attributed to the creation of several hundred jobs late last year, officials said Tuesday.

The county's unemployment rate dropped from 7.5 percent in November to 6.8 in December, according to the state's Bureau of Employment Programs. Although the county is still among seven other localities reporting the highest unemployment rates in the state, the 6.8 percent ranking also was a decrease from December 2005 when the county reported a 7.9 percent unemployment rate.

“There are definitely jobs in McDowell County right now,” Rachel Lester, the county's economic development coordinator said. “Those numbers will continue to decrease with all of the economic development that is going on in McDowell County .”

Lester said two projects that probably made a difference in lowering the December statistics were the new Wal-Mart super center and the Stevens Correctional Center . Lester said the unemployment rates should continue to improve when construction begins this spring on a new federal prison, which in addition to creating more than 300 full time jobs, the project also will create several hundred temporary construction jobs.

Lester said more economic development projects also are in the planning stages, including a proposed strip mall development near the new Wal-Mart in Kimball and a possible prospect for the old Big Lots building in Welch.

“You will see more construction job going on in McDowell County with a need for new housing,” she said. “The fast food vendors have already seen increased traffic.”

--Charles Owens (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)