Erie County's jobless rate is headed in the right direction -- down -- and that's good news as we prepare to celebrate the Labor Day holiday.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Erie County for July dropped to 5.8 percent, the lowest rate in six years. Perhaps that news contributed to the positive vibe at Wednesday's Career Fair at the Bayfront Convention Center. At the Career Fair, sponsored by the Erie Times-News, GoErie.com
and Career Concepts, 2,000 job seekers visited 93 exhibition tables to chat with recruiters.
The job seekers included recent college graduates and adults who have retrained in the hope of launching new careers. Some younger applicants were accompanied by parents, who offered their advice and support. Some at the fair were re-entering the workforce after taking time off to raise children. Others juggling multiple part-time jobs hoped to land a permanent, full-time position. Several people worried about whether they would find a job in fields that are crowded with applicants, such as health care and communications.
What is evident at such events is that the work ethic remains strong in Erie. For Labor Day, we pay tribute to those who work hard at their occupations, and we also salute those for whom looking for work became a job in itself during the recession and as the economy has slowly rebounded.
This Labor Day, we also applaud those who pressed for the creation of a summer jobs program for Erie teens. In light of the city of Erie's high poverty rate, the need for such a program has been evident for years, but it took a push from community activists, and then an embrace by the Erie Community Foundation, the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority and Erie County government, to make the jobs program a reality.
The program, Erie Summer Jobs and More, enrolled 122 young people, who worked for eight weeks at minimum wage. Youngsters who land summer jobs learn many useful skills, including how to dress for the job, be punctual, listen to the boss and relate to customers.
But teens in Erie's summer jobs program also received training in areas outside their job responsibilities. They learned how to write résumés, prepare for interviews and use social media. Gannon University employed eight teens, including Ashlee Macormac, 16, now a senior at East High School. She will take a college algebra class this school year at Gannon, where she plans to enter the university's nursing program after graduation. With her summer paychecks, she bought a laptop for school and will use the rest of her money to buy textbooks or save it to buy a car.
The summer jobs program gave teens a two-month taste of the world of work, but in the long run, it also provided them with the skills they will need to carry forward as part of Erie's dedicated labor force.