(경제) 미국 최고 실업도시
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Nowhere are jobs needed more than Elkhart, Indiana when Seth Doane took us there a year and a half ago, it had one of the highest jobless rates in the country. And a local restaurant “The Dakota” was about to go under망하다. Seth now returns to Elkhart in tonight’s Eye on the Economy.
We were there when the staff learned they’d soon be out of work. “We’re in trouble.” The cook, Pat Andrews, had grandkids to care for. The hostess, Sarah Lehner, was pregnant and due출산 예정인 any day. And one of the waitresses, Jennifer Rambow, worried how she'd support her three-year-old at home. “30 days look for job…….. We’re going to be looking way longer than that because there are no jobs out there to look for.”
She was right. A couple of months later, when we returned, jobs and hope were even more scarce. By March of 2009, Elkhart's unemployment rate peaked at nearly 19%. Now that number has dropped to just under 15%. But there are some signs that Elkhart might be through the worst of it. And a good place to look is right here at an RV manufacturing plant.
At Keystone RV, they've added four new production lines to keep up with sales. And since April, they've hired 800 new workers. But whenever they post available jobs, they're flooded with applicants. “We’ve had over 3,000 people showed up, for 200 jobs, 200 jobs. Wow! So it’s very clear that the need is out there.”
These RV jobs are jumpstarting others. Sarah Lehner had her baby and along with her Dakota restaurant colleague landed획득하다a job at Angelo's. And after more than a year of searching, Pat Andrews, the cook, landed획득하다 part-time waitressing work, but makes just $120 a week.
At United Way 211, a call center that connects folks to community resources, they've seen an almost 65% jump in crisis calls from Elkhart, totaling almost 10,000 last year. Jennifer Rambow is desperately searching for work 16 months on. Seth Doane, CBS News, Elkhart, Indiana.