|
|
AP's Economic Stress Index calculates a score from 1 to 100 based on a county's unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates.
Under a rough rule of thumb, a county is considered stressed when its score exceeds 11.
Nearly 45 percent of the nation's 3,141 counties were deemed stressed in December. That compares with less than 39 percent in the previous month.
The latest update, released today, shows Stress Index readings two to three times higher across the region than they were in October 2007, two months before the recession began.
In December, the latest data available, the Stress Index stood at 11.63 in Clearfield County, 12.68 in Elk County, 11.19 in Jefferson County, 10.24 in Clarion County and 17.07 in Cameron County.
A month earlier, the readings were 10.73 in Clearfield County, 12.42 in Elk County, 10.41 in Jefferson County, 9.36 in Clarion County and 16.71 in Cameron County
The baseline figures from October 2007 showed Stress Index readings of 5.50 for Clearfield County, 4.49 for Clarion County, 5.55 for Cameron County, 4.59 for Elk County and 4.58 in Jefferson County.
The December figures include unemployment rates of 10.9 percent in Clearfield County, 11.9 percent in Elk County, 10.5 percent in Jefferson County, 16.4 percent in Cameron County and 9.7 percent in Clarion, which was notified in January that the Owens-Illinois glass factory in Clarion, which employs more than 400 people, will close permanently in July.
In November, jobless rates were 10 percent in Clearfield County, 11.2 percent in Elk County, 9.7 percent in Jefferson County, 16 percent in Cameron County and 8.8 percent in Clarion County.
Throughout the Tri-County Area, the other stress index factors - bankruptcies and foreclosures - were less than 1 percent in each category in all counties. The highest bankruptcy rates included Clearfield County (0.81 percent), Jefferson County (0.73) and Cameron County (0.78).
For Pennsylvania, the index stands at 9.75.
In November, the state index was 9.44 and included an unemployment rate of 8.2 percent. In October 2007, the state's stress index was 5.00 with the jobless rate at 4.1 percent.
The Stress Index map is available online at: www.thecourierexpress.com.
