Pocono News Section

Unemployment Rate Highest In Carbon/Northumberland

Unemployment Rate Highest In Carbon/Northumberland - Monday, March 16, 2009 at 6:16PM EST

Reported by: Jeff Chirico
Monday, Mar 16, 2009 @ 06:16pm EST
The recession is especially bad for workers in northeastern Pennsylvania. People there are losing their jobs faster than the state average. One of the hardest hit places is Carbon County. But as consumer reporter Jeff Chirico tells us, there are some bright spots in a bleak economy.

Workers hanging siding on this home near Jim Thorpe are grateful to have a job. Contractor John Fikentscher says projects like this are become more scarce and he's had to make cuts. “Usually I have a crew of 6 guys. Dropped down to 2-3 guys now."

That could be contributing to Carbon County's 9.1% unemployment rate --tied with Northumberland for the highest in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Garry Wentz of Career Link in Carbon County says “we have a lot of commuters so layoffs that are taking place in Lehigh Valley, Luzerne, Schuylkill county area is impacting workers here." That's troubling for a county that never fully recovered from the loss of coal mining and garment making.

The news isn't much better in surrounding counties. The jobless rate in Union and Snyder stand at 8.8% in January. Schuylkill is at 8.7%. Sullivan 8.5%. Both Lycoming and Luzerne are at 8.3%.

Wentz says job seekers may want to retrain as forklift operators, CDL truck drivers or health care personnel. "Entry level health care positions like nurses aides, nursing, LPN, RN and medical support positions like medical billing and coding."

Back on the job site, John's hoping spring may bring more with work for his slimmed-down crew and maybe those he can't keep busy now. “Will you hire them back? All depends on work" But in Carbon County, that is becoming harder to come by.

As part of an upcoming project, Eyewitness News wants to hear from those who have recently lost their jobs and are searching for work. Email Jeff at jchirico@pahomepage dot com.