Housing weighs on hiring

It’s almost impossible to travel far in the Adirondack Park—literally or virtually on park-related websites—without seeing signs or banners proclaiming “help wanted.” In the Adirondacks, finding the right employee can seem as elusive as that last peak in the quest to become a 46er.

The employment signs are both good and bad news.

The good news is that overall unemployment is low, meaning that a lot of park residents have jobs. The bad news is that economic growth is almost impossible without additional workers to perform the work.

The overall unemployment rate in the North Country as of July was 4.8, according to Susan Matton, vice president of economic development for the North Country Chamber of Commerce. That’s a drop from 5.7 percent in a year. In October, the only Adirondack Park county with higher than 4 percent unemployment was St. Lawrence, at 4.2 percent.

“We don’t have enough people and we will probably be in that situation for the foreseeable future throughout the North Country,”