Pennsylvania's Employment Situation: August

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9.2 percent in August, down one-tenth of a percentage point from July.  

Pennsylvania's rate remained below the national rate of 9.6 percent, and has been at or below the national rate for 89 of the past 92 months. The state rate was up 0.7 percent from August 2009, while the U.S. rate was 0.1 percent below its rate from a year earlier.

Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted civilian labor force — the number of people working or looking for work — fell for the fourth consecutive month, down 33,000 to 6,363,000 in August. Resident employment was down 25,000, while the unemployment count was down 8,000. Pennsylvania's labor force was 34,000 below its August 2009 level.

Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs count fell 16,900 in August to 5,592,400. Service-providing industries accounted for most of the total August job losses with professional and business services losing 8,900 jobs and financial activities dropping 2,600 jobs. Other services and information showed gains of 2,700 and 1,500, respectively, for the month. Nationally, jobs were down 54,000 in August, with Census layoffs accounting for much of the drop.

Pennsylvania's job count is up 20,000 from August 2009. Nationally, nonfarm jobs were up 229,000 from last year.

Media contact: Troy Thompson, 717-787-7530

Editor's Note: A breakdown of Pennsylvania's employment statistics follows.

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 2010 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released Oct. 21, 2010.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry