The jobless rate reached its highest point in almost 16 years in October, as 1,136 Lancaster County residents filed new unemployment claims, according to figures released by the state.
The Department of Labor & Industry is reporting today that Lancaster County's jobless rate rose three-tenths of a percentage point to 4.7 percent in October, the highest rate since March 1993.
Unemployment in Lancaster County is up 1.3 percent this year.
The numbers are seasonally adjusted to account for predictable workforce swings, Ryan Horner, Department of Labor spokesman, said.
Antonio Callari, a Franklin & Marshall College economics professor, said the jobless rate is no surprise given the recession.
Callari said the situation might be even worse than the unemployment rate of 4.7 percent indicates.
"The labor force participation rate has decreased by more than expected, which means that more people have given up looking for jobs, which is an effect of a recession," he said.
"If these factors were taken into account, the unemployment rate would be closer to 5 percent."
Employment in the county decreased 2,200 while unemployment was up 600.
The Department of Labor calculates the unemployment rate by dividing the number of unemployed people by the total workforce.
The labor force in Lancaster fell 1,600 from 277,000 in September to 275,400 in October. The number of unemployed rose to 12,800 from 12,200 during that time.
It's difficult to determine how many people recently decided to stop looking for work, but Horner said the labor department adjusts the workforce tally monthly using the results of household surveys.
"People are actually called and asked if they're looking for work," Horner said. "It's up to the individual."
He said that jobless totals take into account people who are looking for a job "whether you're receiving unemployment compensation or not."
The Lancaster metropolitan area had the third-lowest unemployment rate among Pennsylvania's 14 regional areas in October.
The State College area had the lowest rate, at 4.5 percent, and the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre region had the highest at 6.8 percent.
Tom Baldrige, president of Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said the jobs data underscore "a challenging picture" that businesses and workers face.
Baldrige said "the economic downturn is real," but he remains confident the local economy can bounce back more quickly than most others. He cited recent magazine stories in Forbes and Kiplinger's that praised the resilience of the Lancaster County economy.
"While Lancaster is not immune to it, there is some comfort in the fact that we've been nationally recognized by two publications as a place that weathers recessions among the top 10 places in the country," he said.
"That may be of little comfort to those people who've lost their jobs. But the hope is, as a whole, we can continue to be stronger than some of the national statistics suggest."
Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose one-tenth to 5.8 percent, while the United States' rate was up four-tenths to 6.5 percent.
The troubled economy has alarmed many businesses in the county. Baldrige said the Chamber has sold a record number of tickets for its Economic Forecast Breakfast planned for Friday morning at Willow Valley.
Jay Bryson of Wachovia Corp. will discuss credit markets, current economic conditions and his predictions for preparing the private sector for the coming year.
"The response suggests that there is a real strong interest in people hearing all they can about what the projections are for 2009," Baldrige said.
Highlights of Department of Labor & Industry report on Lancaster County's jobless report:
• Seasonal layoffs continued in the leisure and hospitality supersector. Jobs were down 400 over the month as cooler weather forced seasonal employers to reduce staffing levels.
• Education and health services jobs were up 300 to the highest level on record at 37,500, a level previously reached in March 2008. Most of the over-the-month increase was due to job gains posted in the health care and social assistance sector.
• Local government jobs were up 500 over the month as staffing levels at local schools reached full complement following reductions for summer vacation.
• Layoffs continued in the construction, natural resources and mining supersector. Jobs were down 100 in October yet were up 100 compared to their year-ago level.
• Retail trade jobs were down 100 in October. On average, retail trade jobs in the MSA have increased by 300 from September to October over the last five years.
E-mail: pburns@lnpnews.com