Schuylkill County’s seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate went up 0.5 a percentage point to 5.5 percent in February, according to the latest figures released Tuesday from the state Department of Labor & Industry.
The January rate of 5 percent was the lowest for the county since July 2007. Last February, the rate was 5.9 percent.
There were a total of 50,000 nonfarm jobs in the county in February. That is up 200 since January and 300 from a year ago. Industry sectors only posted changes of 100.
Total nonfarm jobs in the county were up 200 from January and 300 from a year ago.
Seasonally adjusted, the county labor force and number of employed and unemployed increased over the month. The labor force increased 600 to 68,400. The number of employed in the county increased 400 to 64,700 and unemployed increased 300 to 3,700.
Last year, the county had a labor force of 68,500. There were 64,400 employed and 4,000 unemployed.
According to the Center for Workforce Information & Analysis, the top 10 employers for the second quarter of 2015 in Schuylkill County were: Wal-Mart Associates Inc., state government, Sapa Extrusions Inc., Lowes Home Centers Inc., County of Schuylkill, Jeld-Wen Inc., Schuylkill Medical Center-South Jackson Street, federal government, Schuylkill Medical Center-East Norwegian Street and Cargill Meat Solutions Corp.
There were 1,363 online job postings in January 2016. That is 81 more than last January.
Pennsylvania’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February was 4.6 percent while the national rate was 4.9 percent.
The surrounding areas had the following seasonally adjusted rates in February: Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, 4.5; Harrisburg and Carlisle, 3.7; Reading, 4.2; Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton, 5.3, and Bloomsburg, Berwick and Sunbury, 4.8 percent.