LANCASTER, Pa. —
As the U.S. Census count officially begins tomorrow, March 12, the Census Bureau is still seeking an additional 100,000 applicants for temporary Census jobs. The bureau has a goal of 2.7 million applications to eventually fill 500,000 positions.
Attracting workers is harder when the national unemployment rate is just 3.6 percent, Census officials said.
“We are in a very, very competitive economy right now,” said Fernando Armstrong, Philadelphia regional director for the Census. “There are many options available to the public.”
Lancaster County alone is seeking 800 more applicants. In an effort to draw them, the Census is offering $16.50-$21.50 an hour in the Harrisburg region, plus mileage and paid training. Unlike the 2010 Census, workers can choose flexible, part-time hours.
Workers also won’t have to lug around heavy bags of questionnaires, like past years. For the first time in its 230-year history, the Census is online.
“It is a very modern Census,” Armstrong said.
High wages are one of the reasons the Census this year costs more than expected, $15.6 billion.
Much more money is at stake, however. The decennial Census helps decide where $675 billion of government funds go.
"The billions of dollars, federal dollars, that are allocated determines the support for our hospitals, for our infrastructure and for our schools. And it`s so important,” said Milzy Carrasco, director of neighborhood engagement for Lancaster City.
Most Census workers will be out canvassing homes where the residents haven’t completed the Census online or by mail. Government officials hope most people will fill out the Census online, so they won’t require a Census worker to visit them.
“It is a constitutional mandate for you to complete your Census,” Carrasco said.
As of March 4, 800 workers had been hired.
Mail invitations to complete the Census online will be mailed out March 12.
You can apply to work for the U.S. Census here.