This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Region's Unemployment Rises to 8.7 Percent

That's despite the Lehigh Valley area adding 700 jobs in June.

The jobless rate for the Lehigh Valley region climbed three-tenths of a percentage point to 8.7 percent in June as private industry struggles to make up for the loss of government jobs. 

 The increased jobless rate comes even as the region’s employers added 700 seasonally adjusted non-farm jobs in June for a total of 2,600 since June 2010.

The higher rate partly reflects jobs lost by Valley residents who used to commute to New Jersey or New York, said Steven Zellers, industry analyst for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor.  Both neighboring states have been hit harder by the recession, he said.

Find out what's happening in Eastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Robert Wendt, director of research for the Lehigh Valley Workforce Investment Board, said the national economy is producing as much goods and services – as measured by Gross Domestic Product – as it was before the recession, but it’s doing it with 7 million fewer workers.

Among the most recent job losses locally are hundreds of teachers and other school staff who were laid off at the end of school; the region’s statistics show a loss of 1,100 jobs in “local government educational services” in June.

Find out what's happening in Eastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It is difficult for the private sector to overcome the loss of government jobs, and in particular the number of schoolteachers in the month of June," Wendt said. "That’s going to trickle down to the economy."

The average employer in the Lehigh Valley region has 18 employees and might be more likely to add temporary workers than permanent ones in the uncertain economy, he said.  Employment services, which is mostly temporary workers, was down 100 since May but up a total of 1,500 over a year ago.

For statistical purposes, the state includes the counties of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon, plus Warren County in New Jersey in the Lehigh Valley region.

To get a snapshot of employment, the state Labor Department uses surveys of residents, asking if they’re working or looking for work. It also includes surveys of employers in those counties to see how many jobs they have added or cut.

 Here are some of the highlights from the June data:

 

  •  Manufacturing jobs were up by 500 over May and about 1,000 total since the previous June.
  • The leisure and hospitality sector, which includes hotels, restaurants, amusement parks and casinos, added 2,600 jobs since June 2010.
  • Federal, state and local government jobs, are down by 2,600 since June 2010. 
  • The region’s 8.7 percent unemployment rate is one of the highest in the state, tied with the Philadelphia area. Pennsylvania’s average rate is 7.6 percent compared to the national rate of 9.2 percent.
We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?