HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate remained at 4.8 percent for the tenth straight month, according to figures for March released Friday by the state Department of Labor & Industry.
The commonwealth’s rate remains above the U.S. rate of 4.1 percent, which also remained unchanged in March. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped by two-tenths of a percentage point since March of 2017.
The estimated number of Pennsylvania residents working or looking for work, known as the civilian labor force, was down 18,000 over the month to 6,393,000 because of declines in both employment and unemployment. Resident employment and unemployment were also each down over the past twelve months, by 26,000 and 20,000, respectively.
The estimated number of jobs in Pennsylvania, referred to as total nonfarm jobs, was up 2,700 from February to a record high of 6,004,600. This was the twelfth record high in a row. Jobs were up in seven of the 11 industry supersectors. For the second month in a row, education & health services experienced the largest gain. Education & health services and professional & business services both reached new record highs in March.
