HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.5 percent in April, down from 7.8 percent in March. April’s rate was down 1.3 percentage points from April 2010, marking the largest over-the-year decline since June 1987.
Pennsylvania’s seasonally adjusted civilian labor force — the number of people working or looking for work — was down 8,000 in April to 6,356,000. Resident employment rose by 10,000 to 5,879,000 while the number of unemployed residents fell 18,000 to 477,000, its lowest level since February 2009. Pennsylvania’s labor force was 4,000 below its April 2010 level.
Seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 23,700 in April to 5,692,700. Seven of the 11 supersectors added jobs in April. The largest increase was in Trade, Transportation & Utilities, which was up 9,100 to 1,093,600, while the largest decrease was in Construction, down 3,000 to 219,900. Mining & Logging increased for the 23rd consecutive month, up 400 in April to 31,000, the highest since 1990.
Pennsylvania’s job count was up 80,000 (1.4 percent) from April 2010; nationally, nonfarm jobs were up 1.3 million (1.0 percent) from last April.