Unemployment rose slightly in December, as gains in sales jobs were offset by reductions in the service sector.
The jobless rate in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metro area was 9.5 percent, up one-tenth of a percentage point from November, according to data released Monday by the state Department of Labor and Industry.
The region's unemployment was the state's highest for the 33rd straight month, dating to April 2010. The state's unemployment rate in December was 7.9 percent and the national rate was 7.8 percent.
Employment in December declined by 900 positions from November in the professional and business services sector, according to the report. Education and health services shed 500 jobs over the same period, and leisure and hospitality companies trimmed 300 positions, statistics show.
The only substantial gain in jobs was a seasonal increase of 600 in retail trade. That spike was rooted in retail activity related to the holiday shopping season.
Although the jobless rate in the region has topped 9 percent since May - when it was 8.7 percent - some positives emerge from the latest data.
Seasonally adjusted total employment in the metro area is up by 8,700 over December 2011, with all-time-high current job totals in the trade, transportation and utilities sector and in health-care and social assistance fields.
"Some sectors are doing really well," said Steven Zellers, an analyst at the state Department of Labor and Industry. "It's kind of a mixed bag."
The region's labor force continued to grow in December, but only by 300 people, data indicate. Nevertheless, the area's labor force has expanded by 10,700 over the last year, seasonally adjusted statistics reveal, as more people seek work in a slowly improving economy.
"The jobs we added cannot keep up with the expansion of the labor force," said Satyajit Ghosh, Ph.D., a University of Scranton economist. "The labor force expands when people feel more hopeful that they can come back and look for jobs."
Labor force growth, the inability of some people to find jobs and seasonal employment adjustments pushed the December unemployment rate up, Mr. Zellers said.
The region's high jobless rate has overshadowed significant employment gains over the last year, Dr. Ghosh said.
"We put too much emphasis on the unemployment rate," he said. "We should look at the other statistics so we get a better picture of what the job situation is."
The loss of 900 jobs in December in business services employment appears to be an abnormality, Mr. Zellers said. The biggest previous monthly decrease in that broad sector - ranging from lawyers, accountants, engineers and architects to landscapers, office support staff, maintenance workers and temporary help - was a drop of 600 in December 2001, he said. Average employment in the industry had remained flat in December over the last five years, Mr. Zellers said.
Unemployment rates increased substantially in each of the three counties in the metro area. Lackawanna County's rate increased to 9.2 percent, from 8.7 percent in November. Luzerne County's rate advanced to 10.1 percent, from 9.3 percent in November. Wyoming County's rate was 11.5 percent, up from 10.2 percent in November.
Contact the writer: jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com