Local unemployment rate up slightly in May

Keith Gushard, The Meadville Tribune, Pa.
·2 min read

Crawford County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 3.6 percent in May, according to the latest statistics released this week by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

May’s rate of 3.6 percent rate is up from April’s rate of 3.4 percent.

The month saw Crawford County’s seasonally adjusted total labor force fall by 700, but the number of unemployed rose only by 100, according to the state.

A county’s total labor force is the number of people who live in a county and are in the workforce either employed or unemployed, though may work in another county.

For May, Crawford’s total labor force was 37,600 with 36,300 employed and 1,400 unemployed. (The numbers don’t total due to rounding.) In April, the county’s total labor force was 38,300, with 37,000 employed and 1,300 unemployed.

However, the total number of jobs actually based in Crawford County rose by a net 100 jobs in May.

The total number of jobs based in the county was 30,800 for May, up from 30,700 in April.

Gains were recorded in the leisure and hospitality services, as well as the trade, transportation and utility sectors while both government, and the professional and business services sectors had losses of 100 each.

The largest gain, 200 jobs, came in leisure and hospitality, rising to 2,400 in May, up from 2,200 in April.

Trade, transportation and utilities added 100 jobs in May, to go to 4,600 jobs, up from 4,500 in April.

Government fell to 3,900 in May, down from 4,000 in April.

Professional and business services fell to 1,500 in May, down from 1,600 in April.

Crawford’s 3.6 percent rate for May put it in a four-way tie with Beaver, Bedford and Lackawanna counties for 33rd lowest out of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.

Among the four counties adjoining Crawford, one was unchanged while the other three had slight increases.

The rates for the other counties, listed May, then April, were: Erie, 3.5 percent, 3.5 percent; Mercer, 3.9, 3.7; Venango, 4.0, 3.8; and Warren, 3.7, 3.6.

Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 3.4 percent in May, unchanged from April, while the national unemployment rate was 4.0 percent in May, up from 3.9 percent in April, the state said.