Pennsylvania Releases Employment Report

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry has released the statistics on January  employment for the state.

Pennsylvania’s seasonally adjusted civilian labor force — the number of people working or looking for work — rose to 6,446,000 in January, up 5,000 from December. Resident employment was down 34,000 for the month while unemployment rose by 38,000. The labor force was up 100,000 since January 2008.

Pennsylvania’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose by six-tenths of a percentage point in January to 7.0 percent. The United States’ rate rose four-tenths of a point in January to 7.6 percent. Since January 2008, Pennsylvania’s rate was up 2.3 percentage points, while the U.S. rate was up 2.7 percentage points.

Pennsylvania’s seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs count fell by 3,500 in January to 5,745,700. The mild January drop can be attributed to the higher job losses that occurred in November and December of 2008 combined with less hiring in retail trade and educational services. With fewer jobs in those sectors, the seasonal layoffs normally experienced in January were lower than in past years. Manufacturing and construction accounted for most of January’s decline with 5,100 and 2,800 jobs lost, respectively.

Since January 2003, employers in the state have added 120,000 new jobs.

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