Delaware sees drop in unemployment as job sectors numbers rise
From:(The Center Square) – While the number of new unemployment claims is on the rise across the country, Delaware is bucking that trend.
The Department of Labor released its Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims report, and The First State saw a decline in first-time filers.
Nationally, according to the report, there was an increase of 23,000 initial claims filed for the week ending Feb. 12, which put the total at 248,000. The previous week there were 225,000 claims filed, putting the four-week average at 243,250 claims filed, a decrease of 10,500 from the previous week’s average.
For the week ending Feb. 12, according to the report, Delaware saw a drop of 296 initial claims being filed. There were 354 advance claims filed for the week, and 650 the previous week.
The state’s Department of Labor, in its December 2021 Monthly Labor Review, reports the state’s unemployment rate decreased by one-tenth of a point to 5.0%. March 2020 was the last time the state’s unemployment rate sunk below 5%, when it was 4.8% that month. The state currently ranks 37th in the nation.
According to the report, the state ended the year with 11,900 more jobs than it did when the year began. Over the course of the year, the Leisure & Hospitality industry saw an increase of 5,800 jobs, while Wholesale & Retail Trade, and the Construction industry, saw an increase of 2,300 jobs over the year. However, Professional & Business Services saw a decrease of 1,300 jobs and Manufacturing saw a decrease of 300 jobs.