Centre County, Pa., Jobless Rate Dropped in October
Posted on: Thursday, 1 December 2005, 18:00 CST
By Mike Joseph, The Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.
Dec. 1--STATE COLLEGE -- Centre County's jobless rate fell to 3.5 percent in October, much lower than in October 2004 and tied for lowest among the state's 15 economic hubs, the state Department of Labor and Industry said Wednesday.
The October jobless rate was the lowest in the county since January 2001, before Corning Inc. closed its picture tube manufacturing plant, and Wednesday's report suggested both that Penn State's successful football season contributed to improved economy and that service-sector employers are having a hard time finding help.
Penn State played three Big Ten games at Beaver Stadium in October. Each game drew more than 100,000 fans to the county's economic center and included the Oct. 8 night game with Ohio State that gave visitors all day Saturday to shop and eat.
"It might go back to the fact that when people are happy, they spend money," said Scott Meckley, a labor and industry department analyst.
Although manufacturing jobs decreased by 100 to 4,700 between the two Octobers, jobs in the county's leisure and hospitality sector increased by 200. Other economic sectors reporting 200 more jobs each include retail trade, professional and business services, and education and health care.
"It's been a problem to find employees, especially part-time, because we need a lot of part-time wait people," said John Dimakopoulos, owner of the North Atherton Street and West College Avenue Waffle Shops. "I know everyone's talking like this in town: We need help.
"We're not that bad yet," Dimakopoulos added, "but I am concerned though -- when the unemployment rate is so low, it's hard to find good people."
The comparative jobs data from October 2004 and October 2005 increased by 1,000 to 70,300 at the same time that the unemployment rate dropped by a full percentage point, to 3.5 percent, tied for the state's lowest with the Lebanon County economic hub.
Elsewhere in central Pennsylvania, the October 2005 jobless rate for the Williamsport economic hub was 5.2 percent, for Altoona, 4.8 percent and for Johnstown, 5.9 percent, the highest in the state.
Dimakopoulos said a winning football season, while "It does not affect us that much," does help on Sundays because "if Penn State wins, people stay over and celebrate."
He also said the all-day Saturday ahead of the Ohio State night game was good for business. "That was excellent -- that was very good," he said.
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Source: Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.)
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