The state’s Employment Security Commission recently released new statistics showing that the unemployment rate in Surry County increased by nearly one percentage point from December to January.

The unemployment rate in Surry County rose from 12.3 percent in December to 13.2 percent in January. All but one county in the state saw an increase in jobless rates in January. The statewide rate is now 11.8 percent.

“Nobody wants to see unemployment that high, and it always concerns us ... But it did not necessarily surprise me,” said Bobbi Wessling, manager of the Employment Security Commission and Surry County JobLink office in Mount Airy.

She explained that the ending of seasonal employment after Christmas played a large role in the increase.

County Commissioner Paul Johnson said, “That indicates to me that there was a lot of seasonal jobs, then people were let go ... That’s very unfortunate, because these people need to have good jobs.”

Wessling said that the percentage also was affected by the many people who reapplied for unemployment benefits after their claim year ran out. Another factor she mentioned was the bad weather in January, which led to some temporary layoffs in the construction industry.

“That probably accounts for a lot of the increase,” Wessling remarked.

Those people not included in the unemployment rate are the people who have given up looking for a job.

She said, “There are people who have just given up ... It probably is a significantly higher number.”

Wessling said the rate traditionally goes up in January due to the time of year. Since the unemployment rate in the county has hovered from the high 11 percent range to the low 13s in recent months, Wessling expects the numbers to remain that way for much of the year.

“I don’t see any large number of job opportunities coming to this area in the near future,” Wessling remarked. She said most of the new jobs come in small numbers.

Todd Tucker, president of Surry County’s Economic Development Partnership (EDP), said that he thinks the unemployment rate will go down a bit in the coming months.

“I think we are at the height of what we will see,” he said.

Tucker doesn’t expect to see any large layoffs in the county this year, and he hopes to see an increase in opportunities for people. The EDP is now working on a few new projects. He said the EDP usually announces job creations six to nine months in advance of when the jobs actually become available.

Johnson said that the county commissioners are continuing to focus on job creation in Surry. He remarked, “The county commissioners have done everything within their power to try to rectify the unemployment rate. We’re living in a world economy and there’s only so much we can do.”

He believes that the commissioners have been conservative with the county’s money. He also said that the many building projects pursued by the county in the past year have employed many citizens.

Although unemployment is upsetting, Wessling said people need to look at it as an opportunity to re-train and further develop their skills in the time they are looking for a new job. JobLink, which is also located at the ESC office, offers many services and programs for people looking for employment.

Wessling said the number of people coming in to the ESC and JobLink office each month has remained steady.

“We still are not producing enough jobs to employ people ... Job creation is just very slow,” she said.

Contact Meghann Evans at mevans@mtairynews.com or 719-1952.