excerpt from Carolina Public Press
“In One WNC county, a Jobs Implosion,”
by Gwen Albers
… The closing will mean the elimination of 400 jobs in the rural Western North Carolina county that, in a string of recent months, has had one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. N.C. Department of Commerce data showed that in January, the most recent data available, joblessness in Graham County reached 14.4 percent. That was the highest rate across the mountain region, and it was the second-highest among all of North Carolina’s 100 counties.
With a labor force of about 3,500, Stanley’s closure will nearly double the number of people looking for work, according to state labor force numbers….
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