Delco’s Bio-tech, Natural Gas Hiring Fuels PA Job Growth, Keeping State on Pace With National Rate

By

Image via Genesis Engineers. Artist's rendering of a planned lab and office building for biotech companies near 30th Street Station in West Philadelphia.

Natural gas-related growth and bio tech hiring in Delaware County helped keep Pennsylvania’s job growth in pace with the rest of the nation, writes Joseph N. DiStefano for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Growth was seen during the first half of 2019, according to Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo.

Statewide gross domestic product rose 2.1 percent in 2018, marking the strongest gain in four years, Vinter said. GDP rose at a 2.9 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2019, equaling the U.S. average.

Normally, Pennsylvania has grown at half the national average since the Great Depression.

The gas processing facility at the former Sunoco refinery in Marcus Hook, the new Shell ethane plant in Beaver County near Pittsburgh and connecting pipelines helped boost Pennsylvania’s mining and energy jobs 18 percent in the first half of the year.

Philadelphia and Delaware County registered a combined 5 percent gain in professional, scientific and technical services in the last year, with more high-end job growth expected as Comcast fills its new 60-story Technology Center, SAP prepares its new lab at Drexel, and Intel and Johnson & Johnson roll out research partnerships with Penn.

Read more about Pennsylvania’s job growth here.

[uam_ad id=”62465″]

 

Join Our Community

Never miss a Delaware County story!

"*" indicates required fields

Hidden
DT Yes
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Advertisement