Pennsylvania’s Unemployment Rate at 4.5 Percent
HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) has released its employment situation report for December of 2019.
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was up two-tenths of a percentage point over the month to 4.5 percent in December. The national rate was unchanged from November at 3.5 percent.
The commonwealth’s unemployment rate increased by three-tenths of a percentage point from December of 2018 while the national rate was down four-tenths of a percentage point over the year.
Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – was up 18,000 over the month to 6,552,000, the third consecutive record high.
December was the fifth consecutive month in which employment and unemployment both increased, signaling that Pennsylvanians have been entering the workforce.
The estimated number of jobs in Pennsylvania, referred to as total nonfarm jobs, declined 9,700 from November’s record high to 6,063,400 in December.
Jobs were up in five of the 11 industry supersectors. The largest supersector movement from November was a drop of 5,900 professional and business services jobs.
Education and health services, up 700 over the month, had the largest gain from November and reached a new record high. Although no other supersectors were at record high levels in December, three others set new record-high levels earlier in 2019.
Over the year, total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 32,700 with gains in seven of the 11 supersectors. All three goods-producing supersectors declined from last December, while only one service-providing supersector was down.
The largest volume 12-month change among supersectors was an increase of 13,300 professional and business services jobs.
Additional information is available on the L&I Web site at www.dli.pa.gov or by following on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally-adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison.