What Happened to All the Drilling Jobs?

Local jobless rates grow worse

The Endeavor News

Christmas may not be so merry for the hundreds of adults in Cameron and Potter counties who are jobless.

Not only are there more people without work, there are a growing number of people whose unemployment compensation benefits are running out.

Cameron County’s chronic joblessness grew worse in October, according to the State Department of Labor, growing from 14.3 percent to 15.6 percent, the highest rate in the state.

Potter County’s October rate was 10.8 percent, eighth-highest in the state and up from 10.5 percent in September.

Things were worse last October, at 18.4 percent in Cameron and 11.6 in Potter County.

The figures reflect only those who are receiving unemployment compensation and actively looking for work, the Labor Department said. They do not include those who have exhausted their jobless benefits or the “underemployed” who are working part-time.

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