The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metro area increased one-half of a percentage point in April from the same time last year to 4.1%, according to data from the state Department of Labor & Industry.
Satyajit Ghosh, Ph.D., a University of Scranton professor of economics, described the yearly change as “somewhat significant” and noted it mirrors the statewide and national increases.
“Half a percentage point increase is nothing to scoff at, but it’s not that the sky is falling because (the rate) is still low,” Ghosh said. “(However) the nice rates we were enjoying in 2022, 2023 and much of 2024, we don’t see that anymore and it’s something we need to keep a close eye on. In the first quarter, the economy slowed down. If that trend continues in the next quarter and the economy shows weakness, we might be seeing the impact in our labor market.”
The rate is one-half of a percentage point lower than March, but Ghosh noted the not seasonally adjusted rates can be deceiving.
“The problem with non seasonally adjusted unemployment rates is that all the seasonal fluctuations are not really weeded out,” he said. “You can’t compare the summer months employment with the winter months employment.”
The statewide unemployment rate was 3.5%, up four-tenths of a percentage point in April over the year, while the nationwide rate was 3.9%, also up four-tenths of a percentage point from April 2024, per industry data.
The number of seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs increased by 300 in April throughout the region to a record high 270,400. Since April 2024, the metro area added 3,400 jobs — a 1.3% increase, below the 1.6% statewide increase, according to state data.
Specifically, the education and health service sector reached a record high 57,000 jobs in April.
“That’s a good thing,” Ghosh said. “(After) all the weakness we saw coming out of COVID where the health care sector was decimated and there was so much job loss, we have been slowly gaining more and more over the past year. Most of the job gains are coming from the sectors that we traditionally depend on a lot in this area.”