Job-market woes continue in region, U.S.

While some sectors of the U.S. economy are showing signs of life, the long recession is still taking a toll on the labor market, according to three reports yesterday.

In Pennsylvania, the unemployment rate remained at 8.3 percent in June - but only because 36,000 people dropped out of the labor force, the state Department of Labor and Industry said. Those people were not counted as unemployed.

However, the report contained some positive news. The state's total labor force last month was up by 45,000 from a year ago, to 6,436,000, and its jobless rate remained well below the June national level of 9.5 percent.

Also, while the number of nonfarm jobs continued to fall last month, the drop of 3,400 was the smallest in 10 months, the department said. Moreover, some job sectors posted growth - primarily education/health care, which gained 7,400 jobs. The number of jobs in financial services and in the leisure/hospitality field also increased.

The biggest loss was in professional and business services, which shed 4,400 jobs last month. The trade, transportation, and utilities sector lost 3,900 jobs, and manufacturing was down 3,700.

The number of Pennsylvanians counted as unemployed increased by 2,000 from May, to 537,000.

Meanwhile, Delaware's jobless rate rose to 8.4 percent last month, from 8.1 percent in May, the state Department of Labor reported. The number of people unemployed increased by 1,400, while the number with jobs fell by 1,600 to 400,700.

The largest job losses by sector were in construction and retailing.

The jobless rate in Wilmington, the state's largest city, rose to 12.8 percent last month, from 11.4 percent in May, the department said.

A national report yesterday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that unemployment last month topped 10 percent in 15 states and the District of Columbia.

The rate in Michigan was 15.2 percent, the first time any state has surpassed 15 percent since West Virginia did in 1984. Home to the nation's struggling automakers, Michigan has been clobbered by lost factory jobs.

The BLS unemployment report underscores the damage that the longest recession since World War II has inflicted on companies, workers, and communities.

The 14 other states in which unemployment topped 10 percent last month were Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

New Jersey's June unemployment rate was 9.2 percent.

The states with the lowest unemployment rates in June were North Dakota at 4.2 percent, Nebraska at 5 percent, and South Dakota at 5.1 percent.