Schuylkill County Unemployment Rate Hits Record* Low

Schuylkill County’s unemployment rate hit the lowest it’s ever been in at least the last 30 years.

According to new numbers out from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Schuylkill County’s unemployment rate for April 2019 is at a flat 4%.

That’s a full 1% drop from the March 2019 rate. That rate got adjusted to 5% after it initially came in at 4.9%.

The 4% figure represents an all-time low for the local data collected and available through the BLS. That data goes back to January 1990.

For more historical perspective, take a look at the Schuylkill County unemployment rates over nearly the last 30 years.

• In April 1990, the unemployment rate here was 7.3%. Twenty years ago, in April 1998, it stood at 6%.
• In April 2008, the unemployment rate actually dipped to 5.2% in Schuylkill County. Just 10 months later though, in February 2009, it doubled to 10.4%.
• Last year at this time, the unemployment rate was 4.8% in Schuylkill County.

Schuylkill County Unemployment Rate – April 2019

This chart shows the precipitous drop in the Schuylkill County unemployment rate over the last 12 months. Of course, since the April 2019 unemployment rate for Schuylkill County came in so low, this month marks a 12-month low. And it’s off the 12-month high of 5.6% in August 2018.

Schuylkill County Unemployment Rate (Last 12 Months, June 2019)

Month	Schuylkill Unemployment %
June 2019	4.9
May 2019	4.5
April 2019	4.1
March 2019	5.0
February 2019	5.3
January 2019	5.3
December 2018	4.8
November 2018	4.5
October 2018	4.6
September 2018	4.7
August 2018	5.6
July 2018	5.4

Big Drop in Unemployment Rate Across Coal Region

Take a look at this chart. It shows the unemployment rate dropped by a full percent or more in many areas in the coal region.

Unemployment Rate Surrounding Schuylkill County - April 2019

County	March 2019	April 2019
Schuylkill	4.9	4.0
Luzerne	5.2	4.2
Columbia	4.4	3.5
Northumberland	5.4	4.3
Dauphin	3.4	2.9
Lebanon	3.4	2.8
Berks	3.8	3.2
Lehigh	4.1	3.5
Carbon	5.2	4.2

The biggest drop happened in Northumberland County. The unemployment rate there went from 5.4% in March to 4.3% in April. Carbon County dropped a full percent in a month, as did Luzerne County.

Schuylkill County vs. Pennsylvania, USA Unemployment Rates

The drop in our unemployment is much steeper than the one seen at the state and national levels over the last month. Still, the Schuylkill County unemployment rate remains higher than each. In April 2019, the unemployment rate in Pennsylvania is at 3.8% (down .1% over the last month) and the national unemployment rate is at 3.6%, which is down .2% from the previous reading.

Also read:

• Schuylkill County Unemployment Down to 4.9%

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