[Not a valid template] Delaware’s unemployment rate remained steady at 7.2% in April.
According to figures from the Delaware Department of Labor, the 7.2 was unchanged from the March rate. Adjustments to the March rate led to a downward revision from the original 7.3 percent figure. Click on the link that follows for the full report: 2013-04 MLR
George Sharply, of the Delaware Department of Labor, said the jobless rate has been affected by as little as the movement of 100 jobs. For example, the April jobless rate was actually close to 7.1 percent.
The report showed that the number of unemployed in the state was 31,900 in April, compared to 31,100 in April 2012. The nation’s unemployment rate was 7.5% in April 2013, down from 7.6% in March 2013. In April 2012, the national jobless rate was 8.1%.
Since April 2012, Delaware’s total non farm job total has increased by 7,600. That represents a gain of 1.8%. Nationally, jobs during that period rose 1.6%.
However, the state labor department said rate of increase would be difficult to maintain throughout the year. Sharply said the federal sequester spending cuts and other questions about the economy and spending are likely to hold down hiring.
A decline of 300 jobs in Delaware was reported between and April , but only after the March jobs total was revised upward by 1,000 from last month’s preliminary report.
The revisions were spread across a number of industries, with the largest upward adjustment in financial services.
Although the number of employed residents rose by 300 in April, and the number unemployed fell by 400, April’s unemployment rate remained at 7.2%, since the gains were not quite big enough to lower the jobless rate by one-tenth of one percent.
While few dispute that the state’s economy is adding jobs, the situation mirrors the anemic performance nationally, with the jobless rate failing to fall below the 7 percent figure. That rate of growth also means the state has a long road ahead in making up for the loss of 20,000 jobs in 2009 as the state lost its automotive industry and other companies cut back.
Nationally, the situation has led to economists and others worrying about a long-term unemployment rate in the 7 percent range that would include higher numbers for younger workers, especially those without degrees.
The situation also puts Delaware closer to the national economic performance after decades out pacing the nation. The state traditionally had a jobless rate a percentage point or more below the national figure, but is now within a few tenths of a percent of that rate.
