Schuylkill County accounted for more than 10 percent of the total net gain of jobs in Pennsylvania over the year, according to statistics from the state Department of Labor & Industry.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Schuylkill County fell 0.1 of a percentage point to 8.9 percent in May, according to the latest release July 2. Total nonfarm jobs in the county increased by 500 over the month to 52,300.
Over the year, the county gained 1,300, or 2.5 percent, while the state only had an increase of 9,800, or 0.2 percent.
"To put the headline number in perspective, it's mainly because there are some areas that don't apply as strongly to you. I don't want to downgrade May for you guys because you did well. It wasn't to your detriment, which made the positive things stand out even more," Steven Zellers, industry and business analyst with Labor & Industry, said Monday. "The true test will be how the area looks next month and I think it will look the same or a little better but in comparison to the state, I think the state will have caught up, which means it won't be as large of a percentage gain as in May."
Zellers explained that the statewide number is the difference between the gains and losses of all the areas throughout the state. He said Schuylkill County's gain looks even better compared to the state because most areas either stayed flat or posted losses.
"There are a lot of areas not doing really well and other areas are doing really well, so they offset. The difference is usually larger, it was small for May," Zellers said.
"Another thing that helps the Schuylkill numbers is that you don't have that many large schools and universities where you lose a couple thousand jobs when schools let out. That will happen in May and June," Zellers said.
Zellers also said government losses are typical for this time of year and Schuylkill County posted a gain of 100 for the month and the year, which may be due to rounding.
"Expect to see some losses coming this month," Zellers said.
However, the statistics still show favorable trends in Schuylkill County.
While no individual sectors were at record highs, many were near them and drove the service-providing industries total to a record high of 39,900. Manufacturing jobs are up 200 over the year and total 10,100 for May.
"Well, I think there has been a lot of activity and recalls in the manufacturing industry," Frank Zukas, executive director of Schuylkill Economic Development Corp., said Monday. "They have obviously been doing well and have been calling back any laid-off workers and adding new employees to the work force."
Zukas also said the business parks in the county have remained strong and warehouse distribution has been up. According to the statistics for May, transportation, warehousing and utilities is up 300 jobs over the year, totaling 5,800 for the month.
"Our ongoing efforts have remained constant over the years, so it is the economy rather than the local effort." Zukas said.
"The job market is geared to the national level, so it all depends on how the job market is doing nationally," Zukas said. "For the most part, I just think the economy is picking up and the industry here in the county, which is a lot of plastics and metal fabrication, are just moving along with the upkick in the national economy."
"I don't have the numbers releasable for June yet, but the state did really well in June so I don't think you're going to have much of a better percentage gain to the area compared to the state this month," Zellers said.
Zellers said the unemployment rate for Pennsylvania in June decreased 0.5 percent over the year to 7.5 percent. He said the state posted an employment gain of 19,100 jobs over the month.
June statistics for Schuylkill County will be available July 30, Zellers said.