Job opportunities are on the rebound across the country and state, but officials expect the latest unemployment figures to show Centre County is losing workers.

August statewide unemployment rates will be released next week, and Centre County figures will be out on Sept. 30, said Tim McElhinny, analyst for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

The state's unemployment level has been gradually declining since the summer months, from 5.8 percent in June to 5.7 percent in July.

But Centre County's has been rising, from 3.4 percent to 3.8 percent during that time.

Unemployment has risen in Centre County -- which usually has among the lowest rates in the state -- because of manufacturing business closings, said Susan Shields, site administrator for Career Link in State College.

About 1,000 workers lost their jobs in April, when the Corning Asahi plant, 3500 E. College Ave., closed in April.

Centre County has seen more layoffs this summer than in previous years, causing the employment rate to swing downward, Shields said. Meanwhile, other counties are seeing an upswing in employment and an overall increase in employment across the state, she added.

"With the coming of fall, we have many cyclical job openings," Shields said. Jobs related to education, such as school bus driving, see an influx in employment during this time of year, she said.

Healthcare and technology related jobs are also expected to see increases in September.

"The unemployment numbers may go down for the month of September due to the increase in people retiring here, which draws businesses and jobs," she said.

The unemployment rate is only one factor that helps in interpreting the economy, she said.

"It is certainly not a predictor of the future," she said.

Some homeless shelters in the State College area regard the unemployment rate as an unfair and inaccurate gauge of the economy, said Judy Kennedy, coordinator for Bellefonte Community Action. "You could be working twenty hours a week but you can't support a household on that, and yet you still count as employed," Kennedy said.

The center has recently experienced an increase in the number of individuals that require some sort extra assistance, she said.

"We've received calls about how it's hard to find a job to sustain a household on," she said. "People can't live on minimum wage."

The unemployment rate is seen as a fairly accurate bellwether of economic conditions, McElhinny said.

"We're in a jobless recovery period now. The economy is waiting for the next step," he said.

For the recovery to continue, businesses across the state will have to hire more workers and spend more money, he said.

"Signs are in place for economic recovery, such as the [gross domestic product] and sales increases," McElhinny said.