Jobless rate edges higher

That number is higher even than the unemployment rate of the local workforce area in total – Erie, Forest, Venango, Crawford and Warren counties – which was 6.1 percent for April, Gatesman said.

No major layoffs have affected the area in recent memory; the last wave came about a year ago with the furloughs of Joy Global employees, she said.

Layoffs from companies outside the county such as GE and INDSPEC from Butler have a slight but not immediate impact on Venango County’s unemployment rate, Gatesman said.

“It’s a continual process,” she said.

Just Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry released its employment situation report for May.

Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was up one-tenth of a percentage point from April to 5 percent in May, the report said.

The commonwealth’s unemployment rate remained above that of the United States as a whole (4.3 percent for the U.S.), the report said.

The labor agency’s report went on to say that Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force had increased by 11,000 workers throughout the month to reach 6,475,000 workers.

Pennsylvania’s nonfarm jobs count declined 4,000 to 5,921,700 in May.

The largest gain was in the leisure and hospitality industry, which increased by 3,100 jobs.

Professional and business services reached a record high level in May, while manufacturing declined to its lowest level since current records began in January 1990, the report said.

Total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 0.9 percent from May 2016 while nationally jobs were up 1.6 percent, the report went on to say.

Seven supersectors added jobs over the year, with the largest increase in education and health services (plus 32,700 jobs). The largest decline was in manufacturing (minus 11,500 jobs).