Jim McTague, Lancaster County Economy and National Job Market Jim McTague provides an optimistic view of Lancaster County's economy, contrasting with national job market slowdowns. He notes low unemployment at 3.4% and no personal reports of job losses.
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 5 September 2025
⏱️ 15 minutes
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Summary
Jim McTague provides an optimistic view of Lancaster County's economy, contrasting with national job market slowdowns. He notes low unemployment at 3.4% and no personal reports of job losses. The county's economy is buoyed by affluent retirees, who contribute millions to local restaurants and businesses, and a booming tourism sector attracting 10 million visitors annually. McTague highlights the importance of agriculture and the Amish culture as economic backbones. However, housing prices are significantly elevated, posing a challenge for younger, lower-wage workers. Growth is concentrated in suburban townships due to a superior healthcare industry and expanding data centers and pharmaceutical companies attracting professionals.
1941 LANCASTER COUNTY
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Building a coffee business? |
| 0:01.9 | Serving the best Americano in town is up to you. |
| 0:04.1 | But winning back time and growing your business, |
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| 0:09.9 | Turn occasional customers into regulars with a free loyalty program. |
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| 0:15.0 | you'll always know when you're running low on your best-selling blends. |
| 0:17.9 | Visit sumup.co.uk to learn more. |
| 0:32.4 | This is CBS. I on the world. I'm John Batchelor. Jim McTag, Lancaster County, the best county in the Keystone State, and a bellwether county. We're going to explore the connection between Jim's observations these last years |
| 0:39.6 | and what we're seeing now in the headlines. |
| 0:42.8 | U.S. employment, this is London, Financial Times. |
| 0:46.3 | U.S. adds just 22,000 jobs in August as labor market sputters. |
| 0:52.7 | Jim, a very good day to you. |
| 0:56.5 | We will illustrate the sputtering that you've been reporting on for some time. Your county is well to do. Your county is stable. Your county is |
| 1:03.6 | growing. At the same time, your county reflects the national economy, much better than the |
| 1:09.3 | headline in the London paper. We go first, however, to |
| 1:13.1 | shopping. You've been shopping this week in touring your county, and you've discovered the |
| 1:19.2 | price of corn. What did you pay, Jim? Hi, John. I went to the Charles family farm stand. The Charles family farm has been in the county since 1900, and they harvest the corn and bring it to their stand and other vegetables. |
| 1:37.5 | And it was crowded. |
| 1:40.1 | People were not going to the supermarket for their produce. |
| 1:42.9 | And the reason is I got seven years of corn. |
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