Kai Risdahl

It's challenging for a lot of people to find work right now.

Elizabeth Gidding sees that every day, working one-on-one with people to help them find a job or get into an apprenticeship or training program.

When I do an orientation for the individuals to get a workforce advisor, the room is packed.

So I know the economy is pretty bad.

And those one-on-one appointments people can make with her or another advisor are booked until June.

A lot of people are just becoming layoff.

And I see individuals that come in that have been laid off since last year, the early part of the spring, and they still have not obtained employment.

Philadelphia's unemployment rate has risen from about 4.5 percent in December to 5.3 percent in January.

Patrick Clancy, the CEO of Philadelphia Works, says it's consistently higher than both the state and national average.

Almost 40% of adults in Philadelphia struggle to fill out a job application, according to a local literacy nonprofit.

The city is also the second poorest in the nation, after Houston.

And Clancy says poverty creates a lot of barriers to employment.

The same is true if you can't afford transportation, food, or child care.

And on top of all of that, the labor market in the city just feels stagnant right now, much like it is nationwide, Clancy says.

All the uncertainty and higher costs around tariffs have made many employers hesitant to hire for a while.

And now the war in Iran and higher oil prices are just adding to that.

And there's more uncertainty ahead for Philadelphia's economy, with Medicaid cuts looming next year.

Healthcare is one of the city's biggest industries.

But for all the challenges, people are getting jobs.

About 70 percent of those who come into these CareerLink centers find something.