Franklin Co. jobless rate holds at 8.9%

December 02, 2009|By JENNIFER FITCH

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Franklin County's unemployment rate remained at 8.9 percent in October, while neighboring Fulton County's rate increased one-tenth of a percentage point to 14.8 percent, according to the latest data from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

Like Franklin County, the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained the same from September to October. Pennsylvania's rate was 8.8 percent.

The national rate increased four-tenths of a percentage point to 10.2 percent.

Three hundred nonfarm jobs were lost in Franklin County, where the total of nonagricultural jobs stands at 57,000. The labor department recorded losses in the manufacturing sector, and professional and business services sector.

Manufacturing in Franklin County is at its lowest level since the method of data tracking began in 1990, labor department analysts said. The sector, which now has 8,500 jobs, shed 1,700 jobs in the past year.

Combined, the education and health services category and government category added 300 jobs in October. For education and health services, the sector is at its highest level on record with 9,500 jobs.

At 8.9 percent, Franklin County's unemployment rate is at its highest since August 1984, when the rate stood at 10.3 percent. It has increased 3.7 percent since October 2008.

Fulton County's 14.8 percent unemployment rate is more than 4 percent higher than a year ago. However, the rate has improved since early this year, when it was around 16 percent.

Franklin County tied with Perry and York counties for the 24th-lowest unemployment rate in October among the state's 67 counties. Fulton County ranked 66th, with only Cameron County in the northern part of the state ranking worse with its rate of 17.4 percent.

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