County Unemployment Drops to 5.1%

HARRISBURG — Clinton County’s unemployment rate was measured at 5.1 percent as of September, the lowest mark in some years. And according to local economic officials the county employment figure of 19,400 may be the most ever.

The state “Workforce Information” numbers list Clinton County with a civilian labor force of 20,500, with 19,400 working. The improvement is significant from September of 2013 when the labor force was 20,100 and 18,600 county residents were employed (a jobless rate of 7.6 percent a year ago).

Asked to comment on the improved numbers, Mike Flanagan, chief executive officer of the Clinton County Economic Partnership, attributed the increase to “solid stable employers who continue to add workers, plus the gas industry.”

Flanagan said the county saw a jobless rate of 5 to 6 percent for much of the early 2000s, but the workforce was smaller in size at that time.