More job seekers push Delaware unemployment up

Even though the unemployment rate went up, labor anaylsts say Delaware’s job market is showing some very positive signs.

Delaware’s unemployment rose one-tenth of a percent in July as a result of more jobseekers returning to the labor market.

The Delaware Department of Labor’s latest numbers show the unemployment rate for July was 6.2 percent, that’s up from June’s rate of 6.1 percent.

The monthly labor review credits the increase to an additional 1,400 people in the job market in Delaware that weren’t there in June. A survey of businesses found that there were 1,500 new jobs in Delaware in July, mostly in the construction industry.

Since July 2013, the number of employed Delawareans has increaased by 9,000. The number of unemployed residents has dropped by 2,300.

Delaware’s job market has seen a drastic improvement since May, according to the Labor Dept. Over the last three months the average duration of unemployment was 26.3 weeks. That’s a big drop from the first four months of the year when the average duration was 37.9 weeks.