HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted civilian labor force -- the number of people working or looking for work -- fell by 37,000 in August to 6,352,000, a 17-month low. Resident employment in August was down 40,000, while the number of unemployed rose by 3,000. Since August 2008, Pennsylvania's labor force is down 61,000.
Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose one-tenth of a percentage point to 8.6 percent in August, but remained below the United States' unemployment rate, which rose three-tenths of a point to 9.7 percent in August. Pennsylvania's rate was up 3.1 percentage points from August 2008, compared to an increase of 3.5 percentage points since August 2008 for the nation.
Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs count decreased by 8,800 jobs in August. Goods-producing and service-providing industries dropped equally for the month. Jobs increased in the education and health services and other services sectors, 3,500 and 1,900, respectively.
Since August 2008, Pennsylvania jobs were down 191,500 (-3.3 percent). Nationally, jobs were down 4.3 percent over the same period.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A breakdown of Pennsylvania's employment statistics follows.
Current Labor Force Statistics
Seasonally Adjusted
-------------------
(in thousands)
Change from Change from
August July August July 2009 August 2008
2009 2009 2008 volume percent volume percent
PA
Civilian Labor
Force 6,352 6,389 6,413 -37 -0.6% -61 -1.0%
Employment 5,809 5,849 6,058 -40 -0.7% -249 -4.1%
Unemployment 543 540 355 3 0.6% 188 53.0%
Rate 8.6 8.5 5.5 0.1 ---- 3.1 ----
U.S.
Civilian Labor
Force 154,577 154,504 154,823 73 0.0% -246 -0.2%
Employment 139,649 140,041 145,273 -392 -0.3% -5,624 -3.9%
Unemployment 14,928 14,462 9,550 466 3.2% 5,378 56.3%
Rate 9.7 9.4 6.2 0.3 ---- 3.5 ----
Pennsylvania Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment
Seasonally Adjusted
------------------
(in thousands)
Change from Change from
August July August July 2009 August 2008
2009 2009 2008 volume percent volume percent
Total Nonfarm
Jobs 5,617.5 5,626.3 5,809.0 -8.8 -0.2% -191.5 -3.3%
Goods Producing
Industries 822.8 827.2 920.4 -4.4 -0.5% -97.6 -10.6%
Mining &
Logging 23.7 23.7 22.2 0.0 0.0% 1.5 6.8%
Construction 228.5 231.1 254.1 -2.6 -1.1% -25.6 -10.1%
Manufacturing 570.6 572.4 644.1 -1.8 -0.3% -73.5 -11.4%
Service Providing
Industries 4,794.7 4,799.1 4,888.6 -4.4 -0.1% -93.9 -1.9%
Trade,
Transportation
& Utilities 1,090.5 1,090.5 1,128.5 0.0 0.0% -38.0 -3.4%
Information 96.3 97.7 104.9 -1.4 -1.4% -8.6 -8.2%
Financial
Activities 313.1 313.5 330.0 -0.4 -0.1% -16.9 -5.1%
Professional &
Business
Services 663.6 666.4 710.2 -2.8 -0.4% -46.6 -6.6%
Education &
Health
Services 1,129.5 1,126.0 1,104.3 3.5 0.3% 25.2 2.3%
Leisure &
Hospitality 496.0 496.7 504.1 -0.7 -0.1% -8.1 -1.6%
Other Services 252.0 250.1 254.5 1.9 0.8% -2.5 -1.0%
Government 753.7 758.2 752.1 -4.5 -0.6% 1.6 0.2%
For a more detailed breakdown of seasonally adjusted jobs data at the sector level, please contact the Center for Workforce Information & Analysis at 1-877-4WF-DATA, or visit www.paworkstats.state.pa.us
Note: September 2009 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released Oct. 16, 2009.
CONTACT: Troy Thompson
717-787-7530
SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry
