Labor realities on Labor Day: Unfathomable statistics
When it comes to the economy, statistics can be a canister of mixed messages — a particularly unpleasing thought on this Labor Day holiday. Sometimes they can reassure. Other times, they can be downright scary.
This time, they're simply fascinating.
Recently, this page opined about the layoffs at Wellborn Cabinet, the cornerstone of Clay County business and employment opportunities for more than four decades. That such a solid, family-owned enterprise had to lay off 169 workers is a small — yet important — slice of the foul-tasting economic pie Americans are being forced to eat these days.
Afterward, Larry Lee of The Center for Rural Alabama e-mailed with some compelling comparative data about the Clay County layoffs and Alabama's economy.
According to Lee, the 169 job losses in tiny Clay County equates to what would be staggering job losses in more-populated counties across this state. That much makes perfect sense. But consider Lee's numbers.
Quoting statistics from the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations, Lee says that for every person who works in Clay County, there are many more people in the workforces of Jefferson County (55.5), Montgomery County (18.8) and Calhoun County (9.6).
Or, put simply, the 169 lost jobs in Clay County would equate to 9,379 lost jobs in Jefferson County, 3,177 lost jobs in Montgomery County or 1,622 lost jobs in Calhoun County.
Wellborn Cabinet's unfortunate news made the front page of The Star, but it didn't warrant much of a mention elsewhere in Alabama. But imagine if nearly 10,000 workers lost their jobs in Jefferson County in one day, or if more than 1,600 workers in Calhoun County were laid off.
Think that'd lead the news?
As each week passes, the bleak economic news continues to roll in. Late last week, The Associated Press reported that employers in the United States continued "clamping down" on hirings this summer; U.S. unemployment hit 5.7 percent in July, the highest figure in four years. At least American employers have been consistent; they've cut more jobs than they've added each month in 2008, The AP reported.
Everything's relative, of course. But any time that hard-working Alabamians are put on the streets and need employment it's an important story. One doesn't need to live in Clay County to understand that simple fact.
