Unemployed in the Lehigh Valley

The Lehigh Valley, like the rest of the country, has been affected by the recession. Unemployment is often a telling factor in evaluating the state of the economy.  At the end of 2011, the Lehigh Valley’s unemployment rate was 8.1%, compared to the national rate of 8.7%.  Though this rate is lower than the national rate, unemployment has affected a large amount of people in a great way in the last few years.

Vanessa Williams and her husband Dan Morick are just two of the Lehigh Valley residents that are a part of that 8.1%.

Williams, who is in the public relations and social media field, has been unemployed since June 2011.  “It was really hard because at the time my husband was laid off as well and you kind of go into panic mode and, ‘What am I going to do?’” she said.  “But you kind of pick yourself up off the ground and you keep moving forward.” (See video below)

Williams definitely stresses the challenges that unemployment can present, which includes making daily sacrifices.  However, she has a positive outlook on her situation.  “It’s been difficult, you know, it hasn’t been easy, but at the same time I almost wouldn’t give it back because I feel like I’ve learned so much over the past two years,” she said.

Williams also remains proactive and continuously tries to update her skills in order to end her unemployment streak.  She focuses on moving forward and staying up to date with the market that she is trying to jump back in to.  “One thing my professor told me when I was in college is to always have your resume fresh,” she said.

Morick, also unemployed, is in the mechanical engineering field.  He has also felt the pressure of unemployment.  “It almost seems like the instability that I have been experiencing is the new normal,” he said.

However, though Morick has experienced ups and downs in his career in the Lehigh Valley, he is still optimistic of the valley’s situation.  “It seems like the Lehigh Valley is pretty resilient in comparison with the rest of the country in the recession,” he said.

It is evident that unemployment in the Lehigh Valley region (Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton) is actually improving at a faster rate than it is nationally. This can be contributed to more individuals finding work, or a growing proportion of individuals opting to remain unemployed, thus lowering the unemployment rate.

As Williams mentioned in our interview, a company called CareerLink Lehigh Valley was overwhelmed with calls especially around the peak of the recession from 2008-2009, and is still working hard to find jobs for all those unemployed in the area. CareerLink explains that the Lehigh Valley is aiming for growth in a few key industry clusters, including Healthcare and Life Sciences, Diversified Manufacturing and Services, Business and Professional Services, Information and Communication, Financial Services, and Energy/Green Manufacturing and Services. These areas are selected due to the belief that they will make the most improvement on the status of unemployment in the Lehigh Valley.

While the unemployment rate in Bethlehem has been lower than the national unemployment rate in the past year, it was still higher than that in Pennsylvania. Bethlehem had a 10% unemployment rate as of March 2011, whereas Pennsylvania had a rate of 8%.

The employment status of Bethlehem men in the labor force is 64.4% and women is 54%. The current unemployment status of Bethlehem men is 9% and women is 6.8%. As Williams and Morick discussed, things are looking up for the Lehigh Valley employment status, and locals are still more than willing and optimistic to continue to search for jobs in the Bethlehem area instead of spreading farther outside the district.

As long as the community is still able to come together and work to hold jobs in our area, it is looking more hopeful that the unemployment rate will continue to decrease until it is as close to zero as possible. Yet, it is becoming more common in today’s world to be let go from a job and have to look for another one, so it is recommended that everyone be on the constant lookout for openings, even if they are happy at their current job.