Economic Outlook - Montgomery County

Economic Outlook
December 2012
United States
Current
Last Month
Previous Year
o
o
o
Labor Force
155,511,000
155,319,000
153,945,000
Employed
143,305,000
143,277,000
140,896,000
Unemployed
12,206,000
12,042,000
13,049,000
Unemployment Rate
7.8%
7.8%
8.5%
Long-term unemployed: 4.766M, decrease of 830,00 since last year (unemployed for more than 26 weeks)
U-6 Unemployment Rate: 14.4% (U-6: total unemployed (U-3) plus discouraged workers (U-4), plus all other marginally
attached workers (U-5), plus total employed part time for economic reasons (U-6))
There are 3.676M job openings (November 2012 preliminary). This equates to 3.3 unemployed persons per job opening, or
6.1 persons using the U-6 Unemployment Rate.
Nonfarm jobs: 134.021M, increase of 1.835M
Initial Claims: 330,000, decrease of 5,000 since
(+1.903M private, -68,000 public) since last year
o Largest industry growth: Professional and business
services (+472,000), Health care and social assistance
(+391,400), and Trade, transportation, and utilities
(+351,000)
o Average monthly job growth since January 2012:
142,000 jobs per month
o Compared to December 2007: 3.961M fewer jobs
The recession began in December 2007
previous week, decrease of 42,000 since last year
Advanced January 19 data, regular UC program
Provided by U.S. Department of Labor
Initial Claims: The count of notices of unemployment
requesting a determination of eligibility and entitlement
for Unemployment Compensation (UC) benefits. A person
can file multiple claims.
Unemployment Rate by Educational Attainment:
o
o
o
o
Less than a high school diploma: 11.7%
High school diploma: 8.0%
Some College or Associate Degree: 6.9%
Bachelor’s degree and higher: 3.9%
As educational attainment levels increase, unemployment
rates decrease.
Pennsylvania
Current
Last Month
Previous Year
o
o
o
Labor Force
6,542,000
6,536,000
6,386,000
Employed
6,030,000
6,008,000
5,888,000
Unemployed
512,000
528,000
498,000
Unemployment Rate
7.8%
8.1%
7.8%
rd
33 lowest unemployment rate across the nation
PA U-6 unemployment rate: 13.9% (BLS, 2011Q4 through 2012Q3 Averages)
There are 297,100 job openings (PA JobGateway). This equates to 1.7 unemployed persons per job opening, or 3.1 persons
when considering the U-6 Unemployment Rate.
Montgomery County
Current
Last Month
Previous Year
o
o
o
o
nd
Labor Force
436,700
437,500
428,200
2 lowest rate by WIA in PA
Norristown Borough: 8.4% (not seasonally adjusted)
Pottstown Borough: 9.2% (not seasonally adjusted)
There are 17,500 online job postings (Conference
Board Help Wanted OnLine (HWOL) dataset for
November 2012). This equates to 1.7 unemployed
persons per online job posting, or 2.9 using an
estimated U-6 unemployment rate of 11.8%.
Employed
407,700
408,100
399,800
Unemployed
29,000
29,300
28,400
Unemployment Rate
6.6%
6.7%
6.6%
Top Online Job Postings by Occupation:
o Retail Salespersons
o Computer Systems Analysts
o Registered Nurses
Top Online Job Postings by Employer:
o Merck
o Allegis Group
o The Judge Group
U.S. data: unless noted, seasonally adjusted December 2012 data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
PA and Montgomery County data: unless noted, seasonally adjusted November 2012 data provided by PA
Department of Labor and Industry’s Center for Workforce Information and Analysis (CWIA)
Prepared for the Montgomery County Workforce Investment Board
January 2013