Delaware's jobless rate overtook the national unemployment rate in October - but statisticians say it's actually due to strong job creation and workforce participation here in the First State.
Delaware unemployment rose 0.2 percent to 5.1 last month. Meanwhile, national unemployment fell just slightly to 5 percent.
Statistician George Sharpley says that continues a slow, steady decline:
"But much of that is due to people dropping out of the workforce," he says. "So if you are no longer looking for work, you're not considered unemployed, and that would reduce the rate."
In Delaware, he says, "it's kind of the opposite." The number of unemployed Delawareans is about the same as it was at the end of last year, but the number of residents with jobs has increased by more than 10,000.
"What's really been going on is the state's creating jobs, but there are as many people entering and reentering the workforce to fill them as there are jobs, so the rate has been going up slightly," Sharpley says.
Nearly 12,000 people entered or reentered Delaware's workforce in October, well above the latest 12-month average.
Delaware's most unemployed county was Sussex, with a 4.9 percent rate -- half a point up from last month. Sharpley says that's to be expected as seasonal jobs dry up in the winter.
New Castle County had a 5 percent jobless rate, and Kent's was 5.5 -- both up 0.1 percent from September.
Dover's jobless rate is 7 percent and Wilmington's is 7.5.
