Triad Guaranty negotiations fail, to layoff 100

Triad Guaranty has failed to come to an agreement with a private investment group to form a new mortgage insurer, and will go into "run-off" and cease writing new business.

The failure of negotiations with Lightyear Capital means there will be no new business written by the company. As a result, the company said it will layoff about 100 people in coming weeks. Most of Triad's employees are based at its Winston-Salem headquarters.

Freddie Mac has also denied the company's appeal of its suspension as an approved insurer for mortgage loans. Freddie Mac is a government-backed entity that guarantees loans, and without its approval Triad would not be able to find new insurance customers.

Triad, like other mortgage insurers, has been hit hard by the mortgage and housing crisis. Mortgage insurance companies pay back lenders when home owners default on their loans, as many more have in recent months.

Triad's "run-off" will begin on July 15, after which no new policies will be written and the company's operations will be limited to servicing existing policies.

In an announcement, CEO Mark Tonnesen did not go into detail as to why negotiations with Lightyear failed. The two groups had been hoping to agree to create a new mortgage insurer that would have taken over many of Triad's assets and employees.

"Certain hurdles arose that prevented the transaction from being feasible," Tonnesen said.

He said the company is continuing to look for other options "but we are not optimistic that any opportunities will surface."

Triad unemployment rate drops slightly in February

The unemployment rate for the 12-county Piedmont Triad region was 5.1 percent in February, down slightly from 5.2 percent in January, according to data released Friday by the state's Employment Security Commission.

Rates fell in half of the 12 counties, while rising in four Triad counties and being unchanged in two. North Carolina had an overall unemployment rate of 4.5 percent in February, down from 4.6 percent in January and the lowest rate since January 2001. The state data was also released on Friday.

In the 12-county Triad, about 41,600 people were registered as unemployed during February of a total labor force of more than 820,000.

Among the Triad's three metropolitan areas, the Burlington metro had a higher rate than the Triad, at 5.3 percent. The Greensboro-High Point metro had an unmeplyment rate of 5.1 percent, while the Winston-Salem metro was at 4.4 percent. The Triangle region continues to boast the lowest unemployment rates in the state, with the Raleigh-Cary metro area having a 3.7 percent unemployment rate and Durham posting 3.9 percent unemployment in February.

Here's a county-by-county breakdown of unemployment rates for the 12-county Triad for February, compared to January:

Alamance: 5.3 percent, down from 5.6 percent;
Caswell: 7.4 percent, unchanged from January;
Davidson: 5.9 percent, down from 6.3 percent;
Davie: 4.5 percent, up from 4.2 percent;
Forsyth: 4.3 percent, down from 4.5 percent;
Guilford: 5.0 percent, up from 4.9 percent;
Montgomery: 6.6 percent, unchanged;
Randolph: 4.6 percent, down from 5.0 percent;
Rockingham: 6.8 percent, up from 6.7 percent;
Stokes: 4.9 percent, down from 5.1 percent;
Surry: 5.5 percent, down from 5.7 percent; and,
Yadkin: 4.6 percent, up from 4.5 percent.

Triad unemployment rate hits five-month high

By Richard Craver
JOURNAL REPORTER


The Triad's unemployment rate hit a seven-month high of 5.1 percent during January, primarily caused by the annual recalculation of how the N.C. Employment Security Commission measures employment data, the commission reported today.
The Triad's rate was 4.8 percent in December. The previous recent high was 5.3 percent in July.
The jobless rate for both the Winston-Salem metropolitan statistical area and Forsyth County rose to 4.5 percent in January from 4.2 percent in December.
The commission said that the 2006 unemployment data for the region and individual counties are being recalculated to meet federal guidelines, which is likely to result in most of the monthly jobless rates being revised. The state jobless rate already has been recalculated.
The benchmark is a monthly population survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to determine the national unemployment rate.
The commission reported that the jobless rate rose in 98 of the state's 100 counties during January.
One result of the annual benchmarking can be a reduction in the work force levels within the state's 14 MSA regions.
For example, the Winston-Salem MSA, which is comprised of Davie, Forsyth, Stokes and Yadkin counties, had 2,600 fewer jobs in January compared with December, according to the commission. The bulk of the job losses, 1,600, came in the trade, transportation and utilities sector, as well as 500 in government.
The Greensboro-High Point MSA was listed as having 7,900 fewer jobs compared with December, as well as the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord MSA having 11,100 fewer jobs and the Raleigh-Cary MSA having 7,800 fewer jobs.
Fayetteville was the lone MSA that did not have a reduction in its work force during January.
"Right now, this is an over-the-month change," said Larry Parker, a spokesman for the commission. "It's a lowering across the state, based on not-seasonally adjusted data."