State, Clinton Jobless Claims Remain Above Normal
By Christen Smith/Center Square, Staff Reports
HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania saw its weekly unemployment claims continue a seven-week decline, though they still remain elevated far above normal, according to the latest numbers released by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Another 64,000 Pennsylvania residents filed for unemployment insurance in the week ending May 16, bringing the state’s total during the nine weeks of the coronavirus crisis to 1.8 million. New claims in Clinton County during the week ending May 16 amounted to 105. The weekly “initial” claims in Clinton County have slowed down since a high of 1,049 during the week ending April 4. The continued claims have also fallen by about 600 to the present 2,583 number.
The state Department of Labor and Industry makes available specific information on unemployment claims by labor market. For Clinton County, as of the week ending May 16, there were the 2,583 “continued claims.” Construction food/accommodation workers accounted for 16 percent each…the healthcare, retail and manufacturing sectors all accounted for 11 percent each of the continued claims…23 percent of the continued claims were in the age range of 25 to 34, and 19 percent were between 45 and 54 years old. 51 percent of the continued claims were made by males.
“The numbers are not surprising but they are still a little bit of a shock especially since our county was doing very well a little more than 10 weeks ago,” said Partnership President Mike Flanagan. “At one point a couple of weeks ago, we had over 3,000 unemployment continued claims out of a workforce of about 18,600. The numbers don’t look good any way you slice it. I’m sure we are all ready to go the green phase and beyond, so people can continue to get back to work and those unemployment numbers can be lowered.”
On Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) released its employment situation report for April. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was up 9.3 percentage points over the month to 15.1 percent in April. The national rate rose 10.3 percentage points from March to 14.7 percent. The commonwealth’s unemployment rate increased by 11.0 percentage points from April 2019 while the national rate was up 11.1 points over the year.
Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – declined by 91,000 over the month. Resident employment was down 687,000 while unemployment rose by 597,000.
Clinton’s unemployment rate for March was 7.9%. The county April figures are expected to be released sometime next week. Local, state and federal information regarding virus-related issues can be found on the Partnership website at www.clintoncountyinfo.com.
