DE Unemployment Rises for 1st Time in 2019 as Job Growth Slows

Delaware’s unemployment rate remains well below the national average of 3.7%, but increased for the first time this year from 3.2% in June to 3.3% in July – increasing by about 300.  State Labor officials say the unemployment rate in Sussex County remained the same from June to July at 3.2%.  Job growth is up in the First State by a healthy 3700 jobs over the past year, however the bulk of it came from 2018 – since December the number of jobs has dropped by 500.  Similar changes are seen at the national level where job growth has also slowed monthly since the start of the year.