HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.6 percent in November, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry.
That is lowest unemployment rate in the commonwealth since September 2007, the department said. It was the fourth consecutive monthly decline of one-tenth of a percentage point.
The commonwealth’s rate remains above that of the United States, which was unchanged from October at 4.1 percent.
Over the year, the Pennsylvania unemployment rate declined by nine-tenths of a percentage point.
Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force was down 2,000 over the month to 6,397,000. The decline was due entirely to a drop in unemployment while resident employment stayed at its October level. Over the year, employment was down 1,000 while unemployment shrank by 58,000.
Pennsylvania’s nonfarm jobs count increased 2,300 to 5,976,000 in November. Jobs were up in six of the 11 supersectors. The largest supersector movement from October was a decrease of 4,500 leisure & hospitality jobs, while the largest gain was an increase of 3,400 construction jobs. Both professional & business services and education & health services reached new record high levels for the second consecutive month.
Total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 1.1 percent from November 2016, while jobs in the United States were up 1.4 percent. Seven supersectors in the commonwealth added jobs over the year. The largest increase over the past 12 months was in professional & business services (up 22,800). Four supersectors added at least 11,000 jobs over the year.
