Healthcare adds 1,200 jobs as Scranton jobless rate hits 4.8%

For HR and workforce leaders in Northeast Pennsylvania, June's modest headline — a 4.8% unemployment rate, down just a tenth of a point — masks a consequential reallocation of jobs. Healthcare and social assistance added 1,200 positions over the year while transportation, warehousing, and utilities shed 1,200, signaling exactly where hiring demand, wage pressure, and reskilling needs will concentrate in the months ahead.

The unemployment rate for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area dipped one-tenth of a percentage point from May to 4.8% in June, according to Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry data released August 2, 2026. The rate is down two-tenths of a point from June 2025. On the surface this is a modest, even unremarkable, improvement — but the underlying data reveal a regional labor market in the middle of a structural rotation that matters far more to employers and workers than the headline figure suggests.

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Lackawanna County's unemployment rate fell six-tenths of a point from May to 4.0%, while Luzerne County's fell by the same margin to 4.8%.

The most encouraging signal is the combination of labor force and employment growth. The labor force across Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wayne counties expanded by 600 people over the month and 4,800 over the year, while employment increased by 800 over the month and 5,000 over June 2025. Employment grew faster than the labor force in both periods, which means the falling unemployment rate reflects genuine job absorption rather than discouraged workers quietly leaving the labor force. When the labor force expands and unemployment still declines, the regional economy is pulling people off the sidelines — a sign of underlying demand strength rather than a statistical mirage.

The sector composition of that demand, however, is shifting. The region shed 1,200 jobs in transportation, warehousing, and utilities over the year while adding 1,200 jobs in healthcare and social assistance. Those two movements essentially cancel each other out in the aggregate nonfarm jobs count, which rose by only 700 over the year. But they represent very different labor markets. Logistics and warehousing employment, which swelled during the pandemic-era e-commerce boom, is now consolidating, while healthcare and social assistance — powered by an aging population and expanding care demand — has become the region's durable growth engine.

This rotation carries direct workforce implications. The skills required for healthcare support roles, such as certified nursing assistants, medical assistants, home health aides, and social service caseworkers, are not automatically transferable from warehouse and trucking jobs. The 1,200-job swing implies a reskilling challenge and likely intensifying wage competition within healthcare, where employers already face persistent shortages. For HR leaders and workforce boards, the data argue for investing in credentialing and training pipelines that move workers from contracting logistics roles into expanding care roles before shortages become structural bottlenecks.

The county-level figures show the recovery is uneven. Lackawanna County's unemployment rate fell six-tenths of a point from May to 4.0%, while Luzerne County's fell by the same margin to 4.8%. That leaves an eight-tenths-of-a-point gap between the two counties, with Wayne County included in the metro data but not broken out separately. Employers recruiting across the metro will find meaningfully different talent availability depending on geography.