ARTICLE
The Lehigh Valley’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped a tenth of a percentage point to 4.9 percent in December, marking the fourth straight month the region has remained at a level many economists consider to be full employment. The state Department of Labor & Industry estimated 20,600 people were unemployed out of a labor force of 423,900. The jobless total is down about 1,600 from December 2016’s tally of 22,200, when the rate was 5.2 percent. While Lehigh Valley leaders have noted improvement in the unemployment rate in recent years, they have said more needs to be done to connect employers to new hires, particularly in such sectors as trucking and manufacturing. In addition, employers can find new workers by re-engaging the longtime unemployed, who have been counted off the government’s rolls, according to Nancy Dischinat, executive director of Workforce Lehigh Valley. “If we count discouraged workers, it doubles our unemployment rate to 10 percent,” Dischinat said during the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Forecast event on Jan. 23. “Well congratulations on full employment, Lehigh Valley,” she said. “Although we’re still in the red because we have more job openings than workers with the skill sets you demand.” Many of those displaced workers visit the workforce board offices every day, according to Dischinat. “Employers, come and get them,” she said. The rate for the region, which includes Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon and Warren County, N.J., is higher than Pennsylvania’s, which stood at 4.7 percent, and the nation’s, which has been unchanged for the last three months at 4.1 percent, according to data from the state. Total nonfarm jobs during November in the Lehigh Valley region declined by 2,700, to 363,000, with jobs in construction contributing to the fall. And despite being down from the previous month, leisure and hospitality jobs increased by 2,400 jobs over the year, to 35,400. By seasonally adjusted, the government takes into account fluctuations during the year, such as holiday hirings. To read the original article, click here.
The Lehigh Valley’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped a tenth of a percentage point to 4.9 percent in December, marking the fourth straight month the region has remained at a level many economists consider to be full employment.
The state Department of Labor & Industry estimated 20,600 people were unemployed out of a labor force of 423,900. The jobless total is down about 1,600 from December 2016’s tally of 22,200, when the rate was 5.2 percent.
While Lehigh Valley leaders have noted improvement in the unemployment rate in recent years, they have said more needs to be done to connect employers to new hires, particularly in such sectors as trucking and manufacturing. In addition, employers can find new workers by re-engaging the longtime unemployed, who have been counted off the government’s rolls, according to Nancy Dischinat, executive director of Workforce Lehigh Valley.
“If we count discouraged workers, it doubles our unemployment rate to 10 percent,” Dischinat said during the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Forecast event on Jan. 23.
“Well congratulations on full employment, Lehigh Valley,” she said. “Although we’re still in the red because we have more job openings than workers with the skill sets you demand.”
Many of those displaced workers visit the workforce board offices every day, according to Dischinat.
“Employers, come and get them,” she said.
The rate for the region, which includes Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon and Warren County, N.J., is higher than Pennsylvania’s, which stood at 4.7 percent, and the nation’s, which has been unchanged for the last three months at 4.1 percent, according to data from the state.
Total nonfarm jobs during November in the Lehigh Valley region declined by 2,700, to 363,000, with jobs in construction contributing to the fall. And despite being down from the previous month, leisure and hospitality jobs increased by 2,400 jobs over the year, to 35,400.
By seasonally adjusted, the government takes into account fluctuations during the year, such as holiday hirings. To read the original article, click here.