Blair unemployment rate increases again

The unemployment rate in September increased in Blair and three other counties but decreased in neighboring Huntingdon County.

Blair County's unemployment rate rose from 7.5 percent to 8 percent, the state Department of Labor and Industry said. The five-tenths of a percentage point jump was the largest increase since July 2001. The last time the area's rate was this high was December 1992.

Joe Hurd, executive director of the Blair County Chamber of Commerce, called the increasing unemployment rate "disturbing."

"If it doesn't get any higher than 8 percent, we can consider ourselves lucky, but it is disturbing at this point to have such a significant increase," Hurd said. "With fall coming, we generally see some of the businesses bolster hiring."

The county's total nonfarm jobs in September decreased 200 to 59,500, the lowest level since January 1999, the department said.

The Blair County rate remains below the Pennsylvania rate of 8.8 percent and the U.S. rate of 9.8 percent.

The unemployment rate decreased in Huntingdon County from 11.5 percent to 11.3 percent, the only local county that showed a drop in the jobless rate.

The rate remained unchanged in Clearfield County, remaining at 10.8 percent.

In Cambria County, the unemployment rate increased from 9.1 percent to 9.5 percent. Since the start of the recession, the county experienced a greater monthly increase only in December 2008, the department said. The rate has increased 3.2 percentage points in the last 12 months.

The unemployment rate also increased in Bedford County from 11.3 percent to 12.1 percent.

The unemployment rate in Centre County increased from 5.8 percent to 6.1 percent but remains the state's lowest rate for the twelfth consecutive month.

Cameron County, at 17 percent, has the highest rate of Pennsylvania's 67 counties.

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.

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pittdan7
10-27-09 5:04 PM »Report Abuse	Remember when the unemployment rate was 5% and we called it "disturbing"?
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