“The reason that the Delaware County unemployment rate hasn’t risen as drastically as the national numbers you are seeing is because of the diversity of the kinds of employment you see in the county,” he said. We’ve put a lot of energy into (local hiring),” said Vince Donlevie, Harrah’s senior vice president and general manager.įrancis Carey, director for the Delaware County Office of Employment and Training, said the variety of industries in the region has helped shield the county from heavy job losses during the recent economic downturn. While many municipalities throughout the region saw job losses over that period, the number of jobs in Chester increased by 2,594 over the three years, rising to a total of 16,042 in 2007.Ĭertainly, a portion of those job gains must be attributed to the new casino, which hired 800 employees when it opened its doors in January 2007, and is now up to 1,100 workers. According to data compiled by the Metropolitan Philadelphia Indicators Project at Temple University, Chester has made some of the most significant job gains in Delaware County between 20 (the last year data was available).