Fresh ideas needed to battle area unemployment

By Staff
Unemployment rates are up across the nation and Franklin County is no exception.
The latest numbers available show the county's unemployment rate is 13.5 percent, which represents 1,671 residents.
The area economy took a big hit during the past 15 years as various manufacturing and other industrial jobs left Franklin County.
The impact of the national recession has finally trickled down to northwest Alabama, leaving many local familes, who were fighting to make ends meet two years ago, with a dark future ahead.
There is no easy fix to this problem, but a good start would be figuring how to lure industry back to Franklin County.
New companies means new jobs. That translates to lower unemployment, which leads to people spending more money, which in turn leads to more new jobs.
Many of those 1,671 citizens that are unemployed would welcome that opportunity.