Delaware’s slightly lower August jobless rate is likely little to do little to quell the continuing unease about the economy.
The jobless rate came in at 7.3% down slightly from 7.4% in July, but was up a bit from 7.2% a year earlier.
The 7.3% also matched the nation’s jobless rate. The failure to crash through the 7% barrier dims immediate prospects for the state recovering the jobs lost in 2009.
Dragging down the employment total is construction, a category that is down 500 jobs from a year ago. Also, manufacturing employment remains virtually unchanged from a year ago, a contrast from the gains seen in areas with ties to the auto industry. Delaware lost both of its auto plants in 2008 and 2009.
Another significant category was government, which saw a drop of 800 jobs over the past year, with the state accounting for 300 jobs and the federal government comprising the remainder.
The Delaware Department of Labor took pains to note that the state has actually seen growth in the number of jobs running near the national average.
Of the two major economic data series reported monthly, the Delaware civilian labor force, and the Delaware nonfarm employment, the latter is the better measure of jobs and job creation, the department stated.
Nonfarm employment comes from a survey of businesses in the state that report the number of people on their payrolls during the month. This survey shows 100 more jobs in the state than in July, and 7,300 more jobs than in August 2012 The most comprehensive measure of jobs is the complete payroll count reported by all firms. The most recent count shows 5,456 more jobs in March 2013 than in March 2012.
The number of jobless in Delaware totaled 32,100 in August 2013, the same number as in August 2012. The U.S. unemployment rate was 7.3% in August 2013, down from 7.4% in July 2013. In August 2012, the U.S. unemployment rate was 8.1, while Delaware’s rate was 7.2.
In August 2013, seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment was 424,900, up from 424,800 in July 2013. Since August 2012, Delaware’s total non- farm jobs have increased by,300, a rise of 1.7%. Nationally, jobs during that period increased 1.6%.
The jobs issue comes as the debate intensifies over the state of the economy after a report from Moody’s Analytics. The report from the company indicated Delaware was the only state in the union that could plunge into a recession.
The administration of Gov. Jack Markell said the report was inaccurate and did not reflect some of Moody’s other measurements of economic performance.
Critics of the governor said it reflected an economy that is struggling to recover from the downturn, due to administration policies. The state Republican Party noted in a Twitter post that Delaware still has not regained the number of jobs that were in place when Markell took office. Republicans have called for tax and spending cuts, but along with Democrats have been blamed for not having an economic vision for the state.
Markell held the first of three town hall events last week that discussed the economy and other issues facing the state.
The town halls had been in the works for a time and were not related to the Moody’s news, according to the governor’s communications director Catherine Rossi.
Markell’s performance at the Kent County event did not impress one Republican state senator. “I’ve been in the General Assembly for three years and not one time has the governor approached the Senate as a body and asked us to help find solutions to the problems that Delaware is facing, “Not one time. To me that’s not leadership,” said Sen. Dave Lawson, R-Marydel.
In related economic news, state financial projections released to the Delaware Financial Advisory Council showed an estimated $25 million less in tax revenue for the next fiscal year than forecast, according to WDDE-FM, Dover.
State officials said the amount was not particularly significant in a state with a $3.5 billion budget and noted that income tax and other revenue sources remained stable.
