HARRISBURG – The state Department of Labor & Industry on Tuesday announced the seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for Venango and Clarion counties were below July’s statewide average of 13.7%.
Venango County came in at 13.3% and Clarion County was at 11.6%. Forest County, however, was at 15.8%.
Venango County’s July jobless rate is higher than what had been reported in May and June, 12.4% and 11.5%, respectively.
Clarion County’s July rate was a tick lower than its May rate of 11.7%, but its June rate of 10.3% was considerably lower than the May and July rates.
Forest County’s July rate represents an increase over both May, 13.9%, and June, 13.8%.
At this time last year, Venango and Clarion counties’ rates were at 4.9%; Forest County was at 6.9%.
Crawford County’s July unemployment rate of 13.5% also was below the statewide average; Mercer County, at 14.2%, was above it.
Crawford County’s July rate is an increase over its May and June rates, at 13.4% and 12.3%, respectively. Mercer County’s July rate matched its May rate, but was above its June rate of 13.2%.
At this time last year, Crawford County was at 4.7%; Mercer County was at 4.9%.
All of the area counties’ July unemployment rates were above the national average of 10.2%.
Statewide, the civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – was up 88,000 over the month due to gains of 44,000 in both resident employment and unemployment.
Pennsylvania’s total nonfarm jobs were up 97,900 over the month to 5,525,900.
Jobs increased in the majority of industry supersectors. The largest gain was in leisure and hospitality, up 47,100 jobs from June, which accounted for nearly half of the total nonfarm job increase.
Other supersectors include mining, logging, construction, financial activities, professional and business services, education and health.
Over the past three months, Pennsylvania has recovered nearly 48% of the total nonfarm jobs lost in March and April.
Over the year, total nonfarm jobs in the state were down 541,900, with declines in most of the supersectors. The largest 12-month change among supersectors was a decline of 167,800 jobs in leisure and hospitality.
