Pa. profiles its unemployment ranks

Many of Pennsylvania's 600,000 unemployed people are educated and facing joblessness for the first time, according to a report Wednesday from the state Department of Labor and Industry.

"This report illustrates with clarity the challenges faced by citizens who, through no fault of their own, have lost their jobs and are struggling to make ends meet," said Labor and Industry Secretary Sandi Vito.

The department prepared the report, "A Profile of Pennsylvania's Unemployed People," to guide the state legislature and the public in forming policies on job creation and assistance for the unemployed, the department said.

The profile was based on unemployment as of June. Among the report's highlights:

15 percent of Pennsylvania's unemployed are college graduates, and an additional 24 percent have some college education. In all, 233,000 of the 600,000 total unemployed have more than a high school education.

The number without jobs for 26 weeks or more - considered long-term unemployed - nearly quadrupled to 232,000 from a maximum of 65,000 between 2004 and 2008.

Most of the unemployed - 58 percent - are between 25 and 54 years old, but 17 percent are over 55 and another 17 percent are between 20 and 24. The rest are between 16 and 19.

Of the total unemployed, about half had no claims for unemployment assistance between 2001 and 2007.

The jobless total included 39,000 managers and supervisors, 22,000 educators, and 15,000 engineers, scientists, and computer professionals.

Vito said she had not expected to see so many unemployed engineers, especially when there is always talk about a shortage of scientists. "This is something that needs to be drilled down on," she said. "If these folks are unemployed right now, we have some great talent sitting on the sideline."

Also, she said, "we need to expand our efforts for older workers, especially 55 or older."

In Chester County, Cheryl Spaulding, founder of Joseph's People, a 14-church network of employment support groups in the suburbs, said she was not surprised by the study's conclusions.

She estimated that half of the 700 members of Joseph's People were over 45 - and of them, many have been out of work for more than two years. "The older they are, the longer they are out," she said.