Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate fell to 7.3 percent in November from October’s 7.5 percent, the Department of Labor and Industry reported this morning.
The rate, which is seasonally-adjusted, fell mostly because people who were unemployed quit looking for work rather than because they found new jobs.
Today’s alarming financial news is the rise in first-time unemployment claims to 385,000, up 28,000 and also above expectations. The U.S. Labor Department report shows the labor market is weakening, not that it was anything resembling strong in the first place. It makes me want to cry, because every piece of news like this makes me even more distraught about the future of the 4.8 million long-term unemployed.
I’ve covered unemployment issues or more than a decade and the future for those who are out of work beyond the normal six months funded by state benefits is very bleak. These aren’t lazy bums, but desperate people who are financially and emotionally devastated by their situation.
Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/jobs/INQ_JobbingBlog_The-real-fiscal-cliff-The-millions-of-long-term-unemployed.html#ixzz2PVbVF6gR
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Locator map of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Statistical Area in the northeastern part of the of . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Residential unemployment in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metro area increased three-tenths of a percentage point in January to a seasonally-adjusted 9.8 percent, the highest rate of joblessness among the state’s metro areas for 33 consecutive months.
That’s eight-tenths of a percentage point higher for the region than January 2012, according to data released Tuesday by the state Department of Labor and Industry.
It’s not as bad as it looks, experts say.
The increase was due to the growing number of people joining or rejoining the labor force and looking for work. The labor force grew faster than the number jobs available during the year. The number of people working or looking for work grew 10,400 for the trailing 12 months, while the ranks of the employed increases 7,100. The difference – 3,200 – were counted among the unemployed.
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