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The jobless rate continued to rise across the New River Valley during the month of December and things don’t look any better for the future.
According to the latest figures released by Virginia Employment Commission, not only was the jobless rate go up throughout the NRV, it was also up across the Commonwealth as well. In December 2007, the state’s jobless rate was 3.3 percent, compared to 3.0 percent in November. Both of these figures are below the national unemployment rate of 4.8 percent in December, up from 4.5 in November. Locally, the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford area unemployment rate increased from 3.4 percent in November to 3.7 percent in December. In Pulaski County, the jobless rate rose from 3.9 percent in November to 4.3 percent in December. In Giles County, unemployment jumped to 4.6 percent in December compared to 3.7 percent in November. The leisure and hospitality industry saw seasonal reductions of 2,700 to 334,800 at resort hotels and recreational facilities. Private education and health care employment declined 1,700 to 420,100 as some private schools and colleges were starting year-end holiday breaks. Construction employment was reduced 1,500 to 250,700 by the seasonal completion of projects. Year-end factory furloughs lowered manufacturing employment 400 to 286,400, according to William F. Mezger, Chief Economist.
Northern Virginia continued to have the lowest unemployment rate with 2.5 percent in December, compared to 2.3 in November.
The Danville area was once again the highest with 6.2 percent in December, compared to 5.5 percent in November. However, there was some good news, Virginia’s 224,000 factory production workers earned an average weekly wage of $746.10, which was $14.18 above the November average weekly wage and was $30.82 higher than the December 2006 average weekly wage. The average length of the workweek rose 0.4 hour to 42.2 hours and was 0.1 hour longer than the workweek the previous December. The average hourly factory pay rate of $17.68 in December was $.17 above November and $.69 higher than in December 2006.
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Riefenstahl was a German filmmaker whose most famous works are documentary propaganda films for the German Nazi Party. Her Triumph of the Will, a documentary of a huge Nazi rally glorifying Hitler, is widely regarded as one of the most effective pieces of propaganda ever produced. After the war, Riefenstahl was classified as a Nazi sympathizer and blacklisted. Later, she became interested in underwater photography and the Nuba tribe in the Sudan. What did she do on her 100th birthday?
