HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate for January remained unchanged from December 2017, sticking at 4.8 percent, according to figures released Friday by the state Department of Labor & Industry.
The commonwealth’s rate remained above that of the United States, which also remained unchanged in January at 4.1 percent. Over the past year, Pennsylvania’s rate went down by four-tenths of a percentage point.
The state’s civilian labor force dropped 4,000 over the month, to 6.414 million, after remaining unchanged for four months. The decline was due to a drop of 5,000 in unemployment, the Department of Labor & Industry said.
Pennsylvania’s nonfarm jobs count decreased from a record high of 5,987,300 in December, losing 6,300 jobs. It was the first time those numbers declined in nine months, the department said.
Education and health services jobs also saw a decline of 4,600 jobs, while the leisure and hospitality industry saw an increase of 2,800 to a record high, the department said.
Over the past year, the total number of nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania increased 1.1 percent.
