Pennsylvania’s Employment Situation

HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9.2 percent in June, unchanged from the revised May rate.

Pennsylvania’s rate remained below the national rate of 9.5 percent and has been at or below the national rate for 87 of the past 90 months. The state rate was up 1 percentage point from June 2009, while the U.S. rate equaled its rate from a year ago.

Pennsylvania’s seasonally adjusted civilian labor force – the number of people working or looking for work – fell by 27,000 residents in June to 6,437,000. Nearly all the labor force drop was among resident employment, which fell by 25,000. The unemployment count, down 1,000 in June, dropped for the first time since December 2007. Pennsylvania’s labor force was up 29,000 from its June 2009 level.

Pennsylvania’s seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs count fell by 6,300 in June. Despite this month’s decline – the first in the past four months – Pennsylvania has added a net total of 64,200 jobs so far in 2010. During the first six month of 2009, Pennsylvania lost 143,300 jobs.

Service-providing industries accounted for two-thirds of the total June job losses. Among supersectors, the biggest decline was in Government, which fell 4,700 as temporary 2010 Census jobs began phasing out. Two service-providing industry supersectors, professional and business services and leisure and hospitality, added 5,400 and 900 jobs, respectively, in June. Due primarily to the phasing out of temporary Census jobs, the United States’ job count in June fell for the first time this year, down 125,000.

Pennsylvania jobs were up 22,800, or 0.4 percent, from June 2009. This was the biggest over-the-year jobs gain since May 2008. Meanwhile, the United States’ job count was down 170,000 jobs from June 2009.