SHAMOKIN DAM—The Valley is weathering well during the pandemic economy. That’s the analysis this month from Bob Garrett, president and CEO of the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Friday, the monthly job figures were released and unemployment dropped to 8.4 percent from 10.2 percent the month before. Employers added 1.4 million jobs in August and Garrett says while some of those jobs were ones lost at the start of the pandemic, new jobs are also being created:
“When the restaurants along 11 and 15 are putting up help wanted signs, not come eat my hamburgers, that is a sign that the economy is coming back,” Garrett said.
The federal government says the economy has recovered only about half of the 22 million jobs that vanished when the pandemic paralyzed the nation in early spring. Garrett says that while Valley counties range from 8-13 percent unemployment, our area is faring better than areas such as Philadelphia which have 18-20 percent unemployment.
Garrett was on WKOK’s On The Mark on Friday. You can hear the whole interview on the podcast page at WKOK.com.
