ANDERSON, Ind. — Joyce Qualls said she’s blessed. She has something that 11.7 percent of working-age county residents don’t have — a job.

The unemployment rate in July for Madison County was 11.7 percent — the 13th highest among Indiana counties.

In the two years since the recession began, the unemployment rate has maintained a similar level, peaking at 11.9 percent in February.

“I feel very lucky to have a job,” Qualls said Sunday afternoon while checking people’s groceries out at Harvest Market off Scatterfield Road. “There are a lot of people out there who don’t. The job situation is pretty grim right now.”

Qualls and her husband own a towing company, and she said she’s noticed the economy’s affect on the business. She’s also noticed it at the supermarket. The office manager, Qualls said she hands out job applications on a daily basis.

This Labor Day, as many Madison County families struggle to find work, local union leaders say the job market has changed the holiday.

Jim Hensley, chairman of the Local UAW 663 retirees, said the local economy in Madison County is disappointing.

“It’s just really sad. You just have kind of an empty feeling because you drive around and see the empty lots where the factories used to be, and it’s nothing anymore.”

The effect of job loss has been felt by the unions, he said.

“We used to have 30,000 Madison County auto workers,” he said.

The local union that once represented GM auto workers now represents Anderson city workers and a handful of industrial workers.

Norm Owens said he knows what it feels like to be unemployed. He’s worked at Northgate True Value Hardware on Broadway for about a year now but was unemployed himself after Weidner Chevrolet closed a few years ago.

He described the county’s current labor situation as “pretty bad,” and his suggestion to those who were looking for work was to move somewhere that wasn’t in such a dire situation.

“How can it be any worse than it is here?” Owens said. “If you are a young person, go to school and get your education. That is the magic number, education.”

He said the closing of GM still haunts Madison County’s labor situation.

“You could walk out of school and have a job with GM if you chose to,” Owens said. “But now that option doesn’t exist. And there were so many jobs related to GM that don’t exist either.”

True Value Assistant Manager Lisa Gates said she knows of others who are looking for work and having a hard time. The situation seems worse now than it has been in recent history, and Gates said she hopes it starts to change.

“I know people who have been everywhere applying for anything they can find,” she said. “I know most have to go out of town to find work.”

Trina Davis, the union leader for Anderson and Madison County workers, said employees are feeling the squeeze of the tough economic times.

“There’s a lot of people in fear of being laid off or let go because of the economy. That has gotten people’s emotions very high.”

Hensley says the job loss has led to a change in lifestyle for area residents.

“There’s just not the opportunities for our children and grandchildren. We all took it for granted for so long.”

Recent announcements made by two local automotive companies may mean more jobs for the area.

Newly formed General Motors Ventures announced last month that it would invest $5 million in Anderson’s Bright Automotive. The investment could lead to an additional 6,000 jobs, although it is unclear whether those jobs would be in Anderson. One thousand would be direct production jobs, with 5,000 in the way of suppliers and to support infrastructure. Bright is still seeking a $450 million federal loan to help support production of the plug-in commercial service van it has developed.

Just a week after the GM-Bright announcement, a partnership between Pendleton-based Remy International and electrical car conversion company AMP Electric Vehicles was announced. That joint endeavor will mean at least 50 new jobs in Anderson this year, a Remy official said. Remy will also either expand at the Anderson location or build at a new site for phase two of their operation, meaning 300 new jobs could also find their way in Anderson.

Contact The Herald Bulletin at newsroom@heraldbulletin.com, 640-4800.