The four-county Lehigh Valley region saw a slight dip in unemployment last month, with the slow but steady economic recovery triggering success in its counties and cities.
The Lehigh Valley’s jobless rate closed at a seasonally adjusted 5.4 percent for August, according to data from the state Department of Labor and Industry. The decline, down from 5.6 percent in July, was due predominantly to an increase of 600 seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs, marking a record high of 357,400 positions. For the year, jobs in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton region were up 1.2 percent, or some 4,400 jobs overall.
Steven Zellers, an analyst with the Labor Department, said Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton have shown slight declines in unemployment from the previous month. More telling, Zellers said, is each city has seen about a full percentage point drop since August 2014.
“That’s a big factor in why the [unemployment] rate is as good as it is now,” Zellers said.
Bethlehem has the lowest jobless rate at 6.2 percent, followed by Easton, 7.7 percent, and Allentown, 7.9 percent. The city data do not take into account seasonal fluctuations, Zellers said.
The county unemployment rates also have dipped; Northampton County’s was at 5.1 percent, while Lehigh County’s stood at 5.2 percent. The metropolitan region also includes Carbon County and Warren County, N.J.
From August 2014, when the region’s jobless rate was 6 percent, the labor force has increased by 3,200 jobs, with 2,100 fewer unemployed workers compared with the same month last year. “You’re still continuing to increase jobs,” Zellers said.
Service-providing jobs, including leisure, hospitality and transportation, were up 5,500 in August over July, while goods producers, including manufacturing, saw an increase of 400 jobs, including 200 new jobs each in manufacturing and construction.
“Even though they’re small numbers, the fact that they’re positive is good news,” Zellers said.
Several industries saw monthly changes in line with normal seasonal and historical trends. Educational services jobs rose by 300 from July to August, while the leisure and hospitality sector lost 600 jobs.
For the month, 23,300 people are listed as unemployed in the four-county region, 600 fewer than in July. The number of area residents listed in the labor force — either working or looking for work — declined 300 last month to 427,900.
Pennsylvania’s August unemployment rate remained 5.4 percent for the fourth-consecutive month, while the national rate was 5.1 percent.
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