Unemployment rates still high, more workers moving away

Unemployment rates in Cameron and Potter counties hover above the state and national averages, at the same time U.S. Census figures confirm population losses and an older populace in both counties.

Cameron County showed 5.1 percent of adults looking for work as of November, higher than the Pennsylvania unemployment rate of 4.2 percent and the national figure of 4.7 percent.

Potter County's jobless rate in November was 5.8 percent.

Analysts point out that those figures do not take into account individuals who are no longer actively seeking employment, nor those who have moved out of the county to find work.

In the case of Potter County, although the jobless rate has held relatively steady between November 2006 (5.9 percent) and November 2007, there are 400 fewer people employed - 8,300 in the workforce in November 2006 and 7,900 last November.

Potter County hit a high of 8.2 percent unemployed last February when Time Warner abruptly shut down its customer contact center operations in Coudersport. The jobless rate has been falling steadily, due not so much to new jobs, but instead to a reduction in the number of people looking for work.