More people searching for work

By Debbie Ingram

Published: July 18, 2008

Unemployment rose in every Alabama county but one last month, with six counties registering in double digits.

Throughout the Wiregrass, unemployment is up a percentage point or more from the same time last year. The Dothan metro area reports significant job losses from a year ago in the sectors of manufacturing (600 jobs lost), retail trade (100), professional and business services (100), and leisure and hospitality (200).

It would appear that some businesses are cutting their work force, and not necessarily closing its doors.
The Dothan City Clerk’s office reports that while license applications for new businesses are up 159 for the first six months of the year, compared to the same time period last year, the number of active licenses is down slightly.

In June 2007, there were 5,693 businesses licensed by the city; the figure for June 2008 is 5,561.

Lan Darty, a broker with Whatley & Darty Commercial Real Estate, said it is hard to draw conclusions about business losses, though the economy is tough right now and Dothan is heavily dependent on retail trade and service sector jobs.

“We haven’t seen many businesses going out,” he said. “There is not any more commercial property on the market than there has always been.”

Darty said more rentals have opened up as some businesses have moved to other locations. Many mom-and-pops have remained stable.

“We haven’t seen the national bigger companies that historically move in,” he said. “There are lots of properties that have been built in the last two to three years and the absorption is not there. It’s just like what’s happened with residential construction. A lot of houses are vacant. So much was built and then the economy gets slow. It is just bad   timing.”

Because of those market conditions, Darty said commercial and retail rental rates are becoming more competitive.

“We are seeing things like owners being a little more negotiable, or they are giving the first month free,” he said.

The largest job gains in the Dothan area over the last year occurred in wholesale trade (200 new jobs), education and health services (200) and state and local government (200).

The lowest unemployment rates in the state are in Shelby (3.4), Madison (3.9) and Baldwin (4.0) counties. The highest rates are Chambers (13.9), Wilcox (13.2), and Perry (12.0).

Wilcox County unemployment dropped last month from 13.6 to 13.2 percent.