In parts of U.S., jobless rate up

Trade war, big changes in how consumers shop play part in progression

There’s been a steady increase of people coming to the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s food pantry in Marinette, Wisconsin, a small city of about 10,000 just across the border from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

In the past year or so, a slew of major employers — Shopko, Kmart, Younkers — have closed. J.C. Penney left the year before. After each business shuttered, visits to the food pantry ticked up. The number of people served at the food pantry has risen by 600 in just the past half-year.

“We are a lifeline for folks facing a financial crisis, which happens more often than not when they are living paycheck to paycheck,” said Kalyani Grasso, executive director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marinette, which runs a food bank, thrift store and other services. “We’ve had a spate of business closures.”

Nationally, the economy looks healthy, with solid growth, stocks at record highs and an unemployment rate of 3.6 percent, near historic lows. But unemployment isn’t falling for everybody. New data released last week by the Labor Department reveals just how many places are struggling.

In more than 1,000 counties, or about 1 in 3, the unemployment rate is higher than it was a year ago. That includes all 72 counties in Wisconsin and all 10 in New Hampshire, as well as most in Michigan, Minnesota and North Carolina. The numbers can be volatile from month to month, but this trend remains even if you look at entire quarters or years.

Marinette is a good example. At about 4 percent, its unemployment rate remains low by historical standards. But it has risen a full percentage point in the past year, and Grasso and her