HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry has released January 2013 jobs numbers along with annual benchmark revisions that indicate more private sector jobs were added than previously reported.
Benchmarking is the annual process of replacing monthly job number estimates, which are released each month, with actual employer-reported data.
Including benchmark revisions, January job numbers show 117,900 private-sector jobs were added to the Pennsylvania economy from January 2011 through January 2013.
“This increase in private sector jobs is great news for the state,” said Labor & Industry Secretary Julia Hearthway. “This is strong evidence that our economy continues on a solid path of growth.”
Private sector jobs were up 7,800 over the month, with the largest increase from December being jobs in education and health services. Over the year, private sector jobs were up 39,300 and total private sector jobs reached 5,029,600 in January.
Pennsylvania’s January 2013 unemployment rate was 8.2 percent, while the labor force continued to grow reaching a total of 6,552,000, the highest it has been in Pennsylvania history.
“A growing labor force means people have confidence in Pennsylvania’s economy and their chances of finding a job,” Hearthway said. “While this growth can also cause a change in our unemployment rate, it is a critical sign of a healthy economy because more people are actively looking for work.”
The benchmark estimates released today indicate that Pennsylvania added 4,000 more private sector jobs in 2012 than originally estimated. Public sector jobs decreased by 8,100 more than originally estimated in 2012.
“The benchmark revisions are important to note because they replace the previous jobs numbers estimates with real-world data provided by the state’s employers,” Hearthway said.
NOTE: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison.
