By Barrett Newkirk, Herald Bulletin
ANDERSON - Dedric Robinson, 30, of Anderson said he had received about $95 in unemployment help every week for the past three months. The father of two said the wage was "chump change" compared to what he was making as an IBM tech support call center worker. He was laid off from the Daleville center.
"You look around here and all there are is fast food places (hiring), and with the rate they pay no one wants to work 40 hours a week and still not be able to pay their bills," he said.
Madison County's jobless rate jumped nearly a full percentage point in June as part of a statewide increase in unemployment.
The U.S. Department of Labor Statistics reported Friday that the county's unemployment rate grew to 7.0 percent, an increase of four-fifths of a percentage point since May and half a percentage point since June 2007.
The unemployment rate in the city of Anderson, while staying below last year's figure of 7.9 percent, increased from 6.6 percent to 7.8 percent in June.
Marc Scharnowske, executive director of Madison County JobSource, said high gas prices and troubles in the automotive industry are crippling workers.
"This is a clear demonstration that we need to revise what our economic policies are and do something differently," he said.
Instead of creating a second economic stimulus package, Scharnowske said, federal lawmakers should be funding new job training and placement programs.
Indiana's overall unemployment rate rose half a percentage point in June, the largest increase of any state, according to U.S. Department of Labor Statistics.
The increase comes after General Motors announced in June that it was trimming about 400 positions in Indianapolis and Bedford through voluntary buyouts. And in Madison County, State Plating closed in May, eliminating about 50 jobs. That was followed by Plastech Engineered Products, another Elwood company, announcing in June that it would close and eliminate more than 280 jobs.
Scharnowske said his office had been busy helping people from these two companies file for unemployment and that he believes local jobless figures will become more dismal in coming months.