Delaware’s jobless rate rose slightly to 4.9 percent in September from 4.8 percent in August income growth figures continued to gyrate.
The national jobless rate was 5.1 percent, unchanged from a month ago.
The Monthly Labor Review from the Delaware Department of Labor reported an increase of 700 in the ranks of the unemployed when compared to a month earlier.
However, with seasonal adjustments, total employment in Delaware during September was up about 1,800 from a month earlier. The jobless rate over the past year has dropped in Delaware from 5.5 percent to 4.9 percent. The rate has been as low as 4.5 percent this year.
Employment over the past year was up by 6,200, up 1.4 percent. That was below the national figure of 1.9 percent, but well above neighboring Pennsylvania, which reported .7 percent. The jobless rate in the Keystone State in September was 5.3 percent.
Job growth in the region has trailed the nation as shown in a report earlier this month from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. According to the report, Delaware posted the strongest performance in its three-state territory, which also includes portions of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Over the past year, the strong sectors of the economy have been construction, up 1,100 and financial services, up 1,500. The weakest area was retail trade, down 1,800. Education and health which showed gains several years ago posted a gain of 700 jobs.
Manufacturing employment was down by 100 jobs for the year. The effects of the recent closing of the Chemours Edgemoor site will not show up for months, due to severance packages and the small size of the workforce at the site, which had about 350 workers and contractors.
With the Delaware economy and the state’s structural budget emerging as hot issues, much attention has been paid to recent reports on job growth. A lack of income growth has been cited as a factor behind sluggish growth in state revenues.
One report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that wages were falling in the state The report indicated that wages fell by 3.7 percent in early 2015.
However, a new survey from the federal agency came up with a different finding, the Delaware jobs report noted.
“Some claimed this was proof of falling wages in the state, but we pointed out that a low response rate (about 20 percent) made the estimates suspect and the complete payroll reports from over 30,000 employers showed wages increasing by 2.3 percent from 2013 to 2014 and by 2.9 percent over two years,” the report stated.
A more recent report indicated that average wages are rising by 6.8 percent. The state Labor Department said that increase also appears to be suspect as there are few reports of employers offering big raises.
“For anyone interested in what is truly happening to average wages in Delaware, we would urge them to look past the highly variable BLS survey and instead use the payroll data,” the state report concluded.
The new wage figures did not stop Republican State Chairman Charlie Copeland from taking Gov. Jack Markell to task.
“The governor tells me he is doing everything he can. Well, I have news for the governor. Delaware’s unemployment rate was up again in September, and inflation adjusted wages are down. Until he and others in the Democratic Party accept the fact that higher taxes on job creators is a failed strategy, there will be no success in bringing these new jobs to Delaware. It is as simple as that,” Copeland stated.
Click on the link below for the September jobs report.
G_MLR – Tom2015 MLR pdf2015-09 MLR
