WHAT'S NEW AT THE CHAMBER

Welcome New Member!

ECONOMIC UPDATE

An Economic Update by the Numbers

Jobs:

• Employers added 315,000 jobs in August despite rising interest rates, less consumer spending and an uncertain economy
• According to the Labor Department, unemployment rate rose from 3.5% to 3.7%
•  Job gains for June and July were revised down by a total 107,000, painting a somewhat less booming picture of the labor market than previously believed
• The rise in workers returning to work has cooled off after an initial spike as COVID concerns tapered off, which has continually led to widespread labor shortages and will require businesses to pay higher salaries to be competitive

PA Data (According to the Independent Fiscal Office (IFO):

• An IFO review of ratios of job openings to numbers of unemployed yielded a worker shortage of 105,000 in PA
• Restaurants have been hard hit by the labor shortage. It listed the following sectors as having the greatest declines in payroll employment between July 2019 and July 2022:
• Nursing home and residential care: -27,500 employees
• Full-service restaurants: -20,300
• All manufacturing: -13,000
• Nonprofit, professional, advocacy: -11,500
• Accommodation: -10,800
• Employment services: -9,200
• Amusements and gaming: -6,900
• The sector that gained the most employees was “warehouse and storage” with a monumental gain of 31,800 payroll employees during the three-year stretch
• Some of the reasons for the worker shortage, according to the IFO report:
• Demographics: Pennsylvania’s population is estimated to have declined by 48,000 over three years, and the median age increased. This means the worker pool is smaller and older.
• Parental care: The IFO cited dramatic declines in numbers of people living in nursing homes over a three-year period, even as the number of older people overall increased. Many adult children departed the labor force because many elderly parents require a high level of in home care.
• Wealth effect: Higher nominal savings and wealth likely encouraged an unknown number of workers to depart the labor force
• Remote learning: The pandemic prompted some parents to keep children at home for education — enrolling them in cyberschools or securing tutors.

Read more here and here. 

Inflation:

• The Fed has raised interest rates at its last four policy meetings by a total of 2.25 percentage points to combat the 9.1% inflation rate we saw earlier this summer
• Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday said they still aren't convinced the worst of the U.S. inflation scare has passed, in comments that teed up a continuation of aggressive interest rate increases
•  A steep rise in interest rates meant to slow the economy, clamp down on spending, and bring the demand for goods and services more in line with the economy's ability to produce or import them
• 2 Positives: Supply chain issues are finally easing, the housing market is slowing down (which will greatly help buyers, not so much sellers) and gas prices are on the way down

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

F4 Fiorenza's Food For Friends

F4 Fiorenza's Food For Friends  works to advocate for “Hunger Awareness”?

They work to educate others about food insecurity and hunger needs in their local community and America. Fiorenza's engage volunteers to support the vision of “Creating a world without hunger.” They also eradicate hunger by working with others to execute their entire process.

What are the food recovery processes that Fiorenza's facilitates:

Perishable Food Rescue Process

• F4 connects restaurants, universities, caterers, hospitals, and other sources with excess food to homeless shelters, and individuals in need so that they can re-purpose this food for distribution.

Non-Perishable Food Drive Process

• F4 connects with companies, churches, organizations, and any other types of groups to collaborate and host a non-perishable food drive for local food banks/pantries/cupboards that feed the hungry.

What makes F4 different? They don’t purchase, transport, or store any food and they keep all donated food local. Also, they do not charge any fees to donors or recipients and they do not accept local, state, or federal funding.

F4 Fiorenza's  Food for Friends accomplishments include, providing over 5 million pounds of free food to organizations that feed the hungry and they have provided access to food across 36 states and provinces.

The Chester County Chamber greatly appreciates Fiorenza's Food For Friends' commitment to our community and for their membership and involvement with the Chamber! 

UPCOMING EVENTS

CCCBI is excited to partner with Western Chester County Chamber of Commerce to support the Coatesville Invitational Vintage Grand PRIXview Party!

Thursday evening kicks-off a fun-filled weekend for the 6th annual CIVGP. Enjoy cocktails and live music, as you mingle under the stars with drivers, sponsors, event organizers & other vintage car and motorcycle enthusiasts! Register for the event here.

When you support the CIVGP, you are supporting Coatesville’s parks, quality of life and revitalization efforts that benefit all residents, neighbors and visitors to this historic city.

We hope you join us in supporting the Coatesville community. More info on sponsorships can be found here.

Check out our website for more upcoming events!

CHESTER COUNTY CHAMBER OF BUSINESS & INDUSTRY

WWW.CHESCOCHAMBER.ORG