A jobless Delaware
Dissecting a recent CRI report to examine what's wrong here.
When it comes to being the First State, unfortunately Delaware is not first in job creation.
I came across this report by Charlie Copeland of the Caesar Rodney Institute that summarized job growth in our “small wonder” for 2025 and let me tell you: I wonder how the relative prosperity of the Trump 47 era is passing us by. As Charlie opens:
The Delaware Department of Labor’s Monthly Labor Review offers a valuable insight into the state’s economic health. After reviewing all 11 issues from 2025 (Oct. 2025 was not available), a clear picture arises and one that should lead policymakers to carefully consider the fundamental structure of Delaware’s economy.
For Delawareans, the numbers point to fewer private‑sector opportunities and greater reliance on healthcare and government jobs.
When I think of job numbers, though, there is more to consider. In general, I have always believed jobs have some sort of value, but it varies according to what it’s for. For example: I have three jobs, two of which are writing jobs that I will grant don’t add a ton of value as far as improvement of one’s life (unless, of course, you take what I say to heart.) But on average I would assign a much larger value to my “real” job as an architect - although it’s a service job, we perform a required task for people to construct and improve the built environment, leading to enhanced safety, functionality, and once in awhile, beauty. (Even though it’s a chain hotel, I think this building is rather attractive. Our firm also did the multi-color building next to it.)
After pointing out Delaware’s unemployment rate surged over the year from 3.6% to 5.2%, Copeland studied the state’s Monthly Labor Review to determine that, over 2025 as a whole, Delaware gained or lost jobs in several areas. His biggest concern was that the highest percentage of job gains came in two areas: health care and government jobs.
More revealing than the overall figures is the makeup of job growth. A single reporting category, Private Education and Health Services, accounted for nearly all of Delaware’s employment gains, mostly healthcare. Month after month, this sector consistently added between 100 and 300 jobs. By December, it employed 91,300 Delawareans. In 2025, it became the state’s largest employment category.
Healthcare employment growth is not inherently problematic. An aging population needs medical services. However, when one sector dominates job creation, it raises concerns about economic diversity and resilience. Healthcare demand is mostly unaffected by market competition; it is greatly shaped by insurance, government programs, and regulations.
Employment growth in this sector does not indicate entrepreneurial spirit or private capital growth, which are the usual drivers of widespread prosperity.
I really wish the BLS or whoever comes up with these categories would separate them out better, because there is a value difference in the two, depending on time of life: at my stage in life health services is way more important than private education, but even ten years ago the opposite would have been true. (Although, seeing my wife, stepdaughter, and son-in-law are all employed in health services, it would always be important to us.)
It’s my belief that there are certain job sectors which provide more overall value than others. In Delaware’s case, I’ve been told its number one industry is agriculture, which has obvious value since we all like to eat. It certainly makes my end of the world spin around, as evidenced by the photo above with the crop duster and chicken houses in the background. However, available data shows that financial services are number one because to show agriculture would result in the disclosure of confidential information. Delaware is home to a lot of financial institutions, which provide jobs but more or less at the value level of government jobs, just not necessarily backed by the taxpayer.
To me, if I were to go by the categories of jobs that the state lists in its report in terms of overall value, I would rank them this way.
Creates a lot of value: Agriculture, Construction, Manufacturing. Making things is always big in my book.
Creates a lesser amount of value: Leisure and Hospitality, Private Education and Health, Professional and Business Services, Transportation/Utilities, Wholesale/Retail Trade. Essentially your skilled and service industries, which create their value based on a person’s need. The desire of a place to stay on vacation and dinners out is more of a “nice to have” than a true necessity, given the industries ranked above it. Others are only incremental needs, although I’d certainly acknowledge an argument that Transportation/Utilities belongs in the top category.
Neutral/a wash: Financial Activities, Information, Other Services. A lot of this is paper or pixel pushing. I will grant that banking is important in terms of loans for investment, but they do little to encourage saving.
Deducts value: Government. The redder the tape, the more value they deduct.
Unfortunately, Delaware as currently situated is doing very little to add value and a lot to add red tape, retarding job development. The results are evident: unemployment surged from 3.6% to 5.2% last year while national unemployment stayed in the low 4% range. (Prior to Donald Trump, that was considered full employment.)
I think the solutions Copeland suggests at the end of his report are sound, especially when it comes to manufacturing, but I also think there is some prudent investment to be made in the housing sector, as I detailed back in December. The market is demanding more housing, but unfortunately the state seems to wish to provide it in a form people don’t necessarily want, such as apartments and townhouses. Let people create their own value through equity rather than renting and lining someone else’s pocket.
The other prudent investment, in my opinion, would be converting the old Indian River generating plant to natural gas and then allowing the construction of another natural gas generating plant upstate as well as one SMR nuclear facility in each county. (Meanwhile, tear out every last solar panel in the state that’s on farmland and tell US Wind to pound sand, not destroy our beach and river.)
Currently we have a civilian labor force of 516,000 people. If we were to be successful over the next two years, I think we could expand that force to 550,000 and create 43,900 jobs, lowering unemployment to 3% and making Delaware a more attractive place to live and start a family. (Eliminating the gross receipts tax would help small businesses, too, at a cost of about 6% of our budget - which would be made up for with the production of people.)
However, this is up to our state government, since their policies have worked in the other direction over the last couple decades. They may be getting rich, but the productive people are treading water and that’s why they’re heading south, to be replaced by retirees who sell their $700k house in the big city and come down here for a new $400k house near the beach. (Hence, the big increase in health services.) It’s leaving gaps in the areas away from the beach which can be filled by smart policy with a lighter touch.
You can also Buy Me a Coffee since I have a page there.