LEWISTOWN - During the holiday season, unemployment rates dropped in the Juniata Valley.
Mifflin County experienced the biggest local decrease with unemployment moving from 8.3 percent in November to 7.9 percent in December, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.
In Juniata County, the jobless rate fell 0.3 percent to 6.9 percent in December.
Snyder County remained stagnant at 7.6 percent across the two months, and Huntingdon County's rate fell 0.1 percent to 9.1 percent in December.
Centre County continued to hold the lowest unemployment rate in the commonwealth, with the numbers dropping from 5.3 percent to 5.1 percent in December.
The county gained retail and trade, transportation and utility jobs in December; but it lost leisure and hospitality and state government jobs, due to the end of the Penn State University fall term, according to a press release from the department.
The Pennsylvania unemployment rate was 7.6 percent, down 0.3 percent from November; and the U.S. rate was 8.5 in December.
The number of jobs in Pennsylvania increased by 6,500, but the number of people working or looking for work decreased by 2,000, according to a press release from the department.
In December, service-providing and goods-producing jobs were added across the state. Mining and logging jobs also increased for the sixth consecutive month, the release states.
The number of unemployed Pennsylvanians fell by 14,000 in December, the release states.
