I wrote a post a few days ago and explained that sometimes the numbers reported to you are not exactly what they seem to be. Well, I tried to bring this to the attention of the Editor of the Link. They saw fit not to print it. I hate wasting a good piece of prose, so here is that letter.
It was recently reported that the unemployment rate in Chesterfield County in August was 2.8%, down from 4.0% in July. Sounds great. But it is not the true story.
According to the S.C. Department of Employment and & Workforce, the number of unemployed citizens in July was 887. The job openings in July were 403. In August, the unemployed number dropped to 611 citizens, but the number of job openings remained at 403. The question now is, what happened to those 276 people?
There are two possible scenarios, the first being that they found jobs in areas other than Chesterfield County. The second is they have given up looking for jobs. The question now is, “Why would they give up looking for a job”? This is a question that the county council should be asking. Is it because they don’t want to work or lack the skills the employers need to fill those 403 jobs? The economic well-being of Chesterfield County demands the council to answer that question.
