Wayne County and the rest of the Northeast Pa. region is feeling the sting of a grueling recovery.
The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in Wayne County jumped in the month of July to 8.2 percent, up from 7.8 percent in June.
The labor force in the county has dropped from 26,200 in June, to 25,900 in July, with the number of those employed also dropping, from 24,100 to 23,400, in June and July, respectively.
The average unemployment rate for the surrounding labor market areas, including Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, East Stroudsburg, and Susquehanna and Pike counties, is 9.58 percent, a little above the national average of 9.5 percent. The state-wide average is 9.3 percent.
The nonfarm jobs report shows an increase in total private jobs of 1,000. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 100.
The leisure and hospitality industry has seen a rounded increase of 900, and the education and health services industry has seen a rounded increase of 100.
Labor and industry analyst Bill Sholley said the drop in the labor market can be caused by multiple factors, including the end of the Census and schools being closed for the summer.
Government jobs, which include teachers, decreased, as well as the trade, transportation, and utilities industry also decreased.
Sholley said the decrease in government jobs, coupled with the decrease in transportation, is most likely due to schools shutting down for the summer.
“A lot of government is schools,” Sholley said. “When school is out, bus drivers don’t work.”
