Dothan job market continues recovery

By August, the Dothan Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) – which includes Houston, Henry, and Geneva counties – had regained 5,276 of the nearly 8,000 jobs lost since February, or roughly 66 percent.

The area hardest hit was the leisure and hospitality industry, which includes restaurants, having lost 3,000 jobs by April. The Dothan MSA has since recovered about 2,100 jobs in the leisure and hospitality industry, according to September figures from the Alabama Department of Labor.

“It means the economy is recovering,” said Steve Turkoski, project manager for the Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce.

September’s figures actually brought the job recovery down a few percentage points to 64 percent, Turkoski said. But, he said, the hope is the number will continue its overall climb.

“We’re doing a whole lot better than a lot of places,” Turkoski said.

It was announced earlier this month by Gov. Kay Ivey that Global Resources International planned to invest $9.5 million to open a medical manufacturing company in Dothan, creating 70 jobs.

And while other areas saw declines in sales tax revenues this year, Dothan actually had an increase despite the pandemic and businesses being forced to shut down for several months.

“That’s good because we are a retail hub and a lot of our jobs are in retail, so that’s a good sign,” Turkoski said. “Everything points to a recovery, I just hope it continues and they don’t lock us down again.”

Numbers from the state labor department for the week of Oct. 24 show a total of 397 initial unemployment insurance claims filed throughout the eight Wiregrass counties: Barbour County, 34; Coffee County, 47; Covington County, 51; Dale County, 54; Geneva County, 25; Henry County 17; Houston County, 122; and Pike County, 47.

When the first cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in Alabama the week of March 14, there were 117 initial unemployment insurance claims filed in Wiregrass counties. The number of initial claims hit its peak the week of April 4 with 5,134 claims filed in the Wiregrass – 1,858 of those in Houston County. The number of claims filed dropped in May as businesses were allowed to reopen and have since leveled off, although still not where they were prior to the pandemic.

For the week of Oct. 18-24, the state saw 7,126 initial claims for unemployment insurance filed either online or by telephone. Of those, more than 3,500 were COVID-19 related, according to the Alabama Department Labor.