Delaware unemployment up in June

Delaware’s unemployment rate is up one tenth of a percent in June compared to May 2013.

The state Labor Department says the unemployment rate of 7.3 percent for June follows a pattern in recent years for the economy to slow as summer approaches after showing some signs of strength in the beginning of the year.  

The state’s seasonably adjusted unemployment rate started the year at 7.1 percent and spent the first half of the year hovering between there and 7.2 percent.  The department says this mid-year slow down has happened over the past few years both in the state and the region.  There were 32,300 unemployed Delawareans in June, compared to 32,100 on the unemployment rolls in May. 

The June unemployment rate for the city of Wilmington jumped a whole percentage point from May.  The June unemployment rate for Wilmington is 11.6 percent, compared to 10.6 percent in May.  The June 2013 unemployment rate for Wilmington is also a full point higher than it was in Wilmington one year ago.

 While Delaware’s rate has remained fairly static over the past year, the national unemployment rate has seen a decline over that same time.  The current U.S. unemployment rate at 7.6 percent is getting closer to Delaware’s rate.  Last June, the national unemployment rate was 8.2 percent.