What Do Cox Layoffs Mean for Smyrna's Unemployment Rate?

The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that the state’s unemployment rate declined for the ninth straight month in April to 8.9 percent. This news comes a week after at its Atlanta Journal Constitution distribution centers in Smyrna and Kennesaw.

Smyrna’s unemployment rate for March 2012, the most recent data available, was 8.5 percent, but that could change when the layoffs take effect in July. Andy McDill, a media representative from Cox Enterprises, said the company is outsourcing the home delivery of the AJC. This means 102 employees at its Smyrna distribution center will be out of the job beginning as early as July 16.

McDill could not say how many of the distribution center’s employees actually lived in Smyrna, but did note that employees will be able to apply for other jobs with the AJC. One Smyrna-Vinings Patch Facebook fan said both her daughter and grandson are employed at the distribution center and are impacted by the layoff.

The layoffs affect Cox employees in Kennesaw as well. The layoff notice field with the Department of Labor said 150 employees at the north Cobb distribution center would be affected. Georgia Department of Labor won’t be able to record the affects of the layoffs on the unemployment rates for Kennesaw and Smyrna until several months after they’re implemented.