A loss of jobs in Schuylkill County led to a higher seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January.
The rate increased 0.4 of a percentage point to 6 percent for the month, according to the latest figures released Tuesday by the state Department of Labor & Industry.
“January is typically a month with job decline,” Jeff Newman, industry and business analyst for the department, said Tuesday.
Schuylkill County lost 900 jobs over the month for a total of 50,500 nonfarm jobs in January. However, that is still 500 more nonfarm jobs in the county than there were January 2014 and the unemployment rate fell from 7.3 percent last year.
Last year, there was a drop of 800 jobs for the county from December 2014 to January. A year before that, it dropped by 1,100 jobs.
“The typical drop is in retail, leisure and hospitality and construction,” Newman said.
Retail and leisure/hospitality industry sectors each lost 200 jobs over the month while mining, logging and construction was down 100 by jobs.
“The only thing that concerns me is that because this is a survey-based program, if any of the companies that went out of business are not on the survey, it could be worse than we think,” Newman said.
Sears at the Schuylkill Mall officially closed its doors in January. It employed 84 people.
Seasonally adjusted, the number of unemployed in the county stayed at 4,100 over the month. There were 4,000 less employed that month, bringing total employment to 64,200. Meanwhile, the labor force dropped from 72,200 to 68,300 over the month.
The shrinking workforce helped minimize the increase in the unemployment percentage for the county.
Schuylkill County was one of 45 counties in Pennsylvania that had the unemployment rate rise in January. The rate went unchanged in four counties and fell in 18 other counties.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Pennsylvania increased 0.1 of a point to 5.1 percent for January. The national rate was 5.7 percent for the month.
When the state Department of Labor and Industry releases its next unemployment numbers in two weeks, there may be some adjustments to past figures.