Delaware’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate drops in July, as the state’s jobs numbers increase.
Unemployment was at 4.4% down from 4.5% in June, and it is down more than a full point compared to July 2021 when it was 5.5%. The national number in July was at 3.5%.
And area unemployment rates dropped for the most part with one exception, Newark, where the rate went up to 5.5% from 4%. Those rates are not seasonally adjusted like the state number.
Tom Dougherty is the chief of the Office of Occupational and Labor Market Information. He says new entrants are driving Newark’s unemployment numbers,
"The new entrants are people entering the labor force. So that's what's driving the unemployment rate in Newark,” said Dougherty. “It is higher than we would expect this time of year, but I think it can be explained by the new entrants entering into the labor force and basically they're looking for jobs and they haven't found them yet."
Dougherty says the state is also adding jobs.
"We have an increase of 1,900 jobs over the month and over the year we're up 11,800 jobs. So those are very positive numbers," said Dougherty.
The year-to-date job growth is a net total of 9,700.
Leisure & Hospitality led July’s growth adding 7,800 jobs since July 2021 with the Trade, Transportation, and Utility and Manufacturing sectors increasing by 2,100 and 1,700 jobs respectively over the past 12 months.
