Better jobless numbers in suburbs
Chester, Montgomery, Delaware and Bucks counties have among lowest unemployment rates in state
The region continued to outperform the state in unemployment in July, according to the latest report from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry.
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate in July was unchanged at 5 percent. It was the second straight month with no change.
The commonwealth’s rate remained above that of the United States, which was down one-tenth of a percentage point from June to 4.3 percent. Over the year, the Pennsylvania rate declined by one-half of a percentage point.
Of the 67 counties in the state, Chester County had the lowest unemployment rate in July at 3.4 percent, while Fayette County had the highest rate at 6.5 percent. Montgomery County had the fifthlowest rate at 3.7 percent. Bucks County tied Union County for the eighth-lowest rate at 4.0 percent. Delaware County tied Butler and Dauphin counties for the 13th lowest rate at 4.3 percent.
Philadelphia County tied Armstrong County at 5.9 percent, the 61st lowest rate in the state.
All job numbers in the report are seasonally adjusted.
All in all, the report on July’s unemployment situation points to an economy that is recovering from the recession, said Jeff Newman, industry and business analyst.
“I think the state has recovered well from the recession; the nation has done better,” said Newman. “I can’t point to something specific for that. Pennsylvania’s population is older than a lot of states but I don’t know if that has any-
thing to do with it or not.”
Generally, the number of jobs in health care and social assistance has grown in the state in recent years, while manufacturing has been declining, Newman observed.
Pat Bokovitz, director of
the Chester County Workforce Development Board, noted that unemployment numbers can be misleading because they’re affected when people become discouraged and are no longer counted as looking for work.
That was not the case in Chester County, though. In July 2016, the county’s labor force was at 281,200 and the unemployment rate was 3.9 percent; this July, the labor
force was 283,100 and the jobless rate was 3.4 percent.
“That shows a very positive hiring trend,” Bokovitz said. “These are the benefits of being in a diverse economy.”