SUNBURY – Two leaders of the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce aren’t expressing worry over May’s job report, but they say there are still many labor and employment issues which need to be addressed.
On WKOK’s On The Mark, Chamber Chairman Art Thomas said we need to remember March’s big job boost and April’s lower numbers, “Now we’re right in the middle, which would normally be an outstanding month, and I think it’s good.”
“The Rescue Act hasn’t even kicked in yet. There’s over 2,500 municipalities in Pennsylvania. Every one of those municipalities is gonna get a boat load of money. The first wave of that money is supposed to be coming in June,” he said.
President and CEO Bob Garrett agrees, saying the US and the region need to expedite people’s transition back to the workforce, including ending the unemployment compensation incentives, and he talked about the big growing issue; child care.
“We don’t have nearly enough early learning daycare opportunities in this Valley for all the folks who want to get back to work. That gets you into the discussion about why has this pandemic particularly affected women, and what can we do to get them back into the labor force,” Garrett said.
In May, the US Labor Department said 559,000 jobs were added, and the U.S. unemployment rate dropped from 6.1% to 5.8%. You can hear more job number reaction from the Chamber on the WKOK Podcast Page.
