Delaware unemployment rate sees slight increase in June

DOVER — While Delaware’s unemployment rate has remained consistent since March, the state saw a very small uptick to 4% in June.

Since March, the state registered a 3.9% unemployment rate, according to the Department of Labor’s monthly workforce report. The figure dipped below the U.S. unemployment rate for the first time this year in March and has remained slightly under the measure ever since.

The civilian labor force dipped by about 100 employees in total, which was reflected by an increase of 300 unemployed workers and a decrease of about 400 employed Delawareans.

While the overall rate remains relatively unchanged, county- and city-specific data fluctuated greatly from May to June.

In New Castle County, the unemployment rate grew from 3.8% to 4.6% from May to June. In Wilmington – the county’s largest city – the rate jumped from 5.7% to 7.1%. Meanwhile, in Newark, the figure increased from 3.3% to 4.9%.

While there is no city- or town-specific data for Sussex, Delaware’s southernmost county saw a slight increase in its unemployment rate, from 3.7% to 4%.

Kent County also saw a surge in unemployment, as the Department of Labor recorded a 1.1% increase to a 5.5% rate in June. The capital city of Dover tallied the highest unemployment rate of the cities included in the monthly report with a figure of 7.5%; a 1.3% increase from May.

Despite these figures, the overall measure only dipped by 0.1% from May to June.

In the June report, the Department of Labor touted year-over-year growth of hourly private sector wages compared to the consumer price index (CPI) of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metropolitan region.

While the regional CPI increased by 3.6% from June 2023 to June 2024, hourly wages in the private sector grew by 5.7%, or $1.71 an hour.

The department also noted that, total non-farm jobs were up 8,000 year-over year. This equates to a gain of 1.6%, which is consistent with national job growth from the same period.

This growth in Delaware was driven by the government sector, which increased its workforce by 2,900 jobs since June 2023. The gain was also driven by increases in the hospitality industry, which added 2,300 jobs, as well as private education and health, which added 2,000 workers.