HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percent in July, to 4.9 percent. But the commonwealth’s unemployment rate remained above that of the United States, which rose one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.4 percent, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry.
For the year, Pennsylvania’s rate is down six-tenths of a percent. The national rate has dropped one-half of a percentage point in the same span, the Department of Labor & Industry report said.
Pennsylvania’s civilian work force dropped 30,000 to 6,428,000, according to the report. Resident employment and unemployment both declined over the month, but since last August employment was up by 18,000 while unemployment shrank by 40,000.
Pennsylvania’s nonfarm jobs count was down 8,000 from July’s record high to 5,953,700 in August. Jobs were down in seven of the eleven supersectors with the largest movement in education & health services (down 5,300). The largest increase was a gain of 2,100 leisure & hospitality jobs, pushing the supersector to a new record high for the third consecutive month.
Total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 1.0 percent from August 2016, while jobs in the United States were up 1.4 percent. Six supersectors in the commonwealth added jobs over the year, with three adding more than 20,000. The largest increase over the past 12 months was in leisure and hospitality (up 25,000), while the largest decline was in government (down 9,600).
