Employment at all-time high in Franklin County

(Chambersburg) — Franklin County’s unemployment rate continues to fall, this time to the lowest rate since May 2007.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the county was 3.3 percent in May, down from 4.8 percent a year ago and 3.7 percent in April, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

Franklin County, also known as the Chambersburg-Waynesboro Metropolitan Statistical Area, had a record high 61,500 non-farm jobs in May, seasonally adjusted. Local jobs grew at a rate of 2.5 percent over the year, compared to 1.3 percent statewide. The over-the-year increase was the largest percentage gain of the 18 MSAs in the state.

Employers in the county reported 1,500 more jobs than a year ago. Manufacturers and retailers each added 300 jobs during the year. Leisure and hospitality added 200.

The county’s construction industry added 100 jobs over the year. The total of 2,400 construction jobs is still midway between the highest and lowest employment for the sector for the month of May — 3,200 jobs in 2006 and 1,900 in 1996, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.

Franklin County tied three other counties for the ninth-lowest unemployment rate among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties in May.

Unemployment rates and rankings of neighboring counties were: Fulton (4.0 percent, tied-32nd); Huntingdon (4.6 percent, t-54th); Juniata (3.3 percent, t-ninth); Perry (3.2 percent, t-seventh ); Cumberland (2.8 percent, second); and Adams (2.9 percent, third). Unemployment rates across Pennsylvania ranged from 2.7 percent in Chester County to 6.0 percent in Forest County.

The average unemployment rate for Pennsylvania in May was 4.5 percent and 3.8 percent for the U.S.

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The Chambersburg Public Opinion.