HARRISBURG – On Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) released its employment situation report for January of 2020.
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was up one-tenth of a percentage point over the month to 4.7 percent in January. The national rate was also up a tenth from December to 3.6 percent. The commonwealth’s unemployment rate increased by six-tenths of a percentage point from January of 2019 while the national rate was down four-tenths of a percentage point over the year.
Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – was up 11,000 over the month to a record high of 6,549,000 due to gains in both employment and unemployment.
Pennsylvania’s total nonfarm jobs rose 13,500 from December to a record high of 6,093,000. Jobs were up in seven of the 11 industry supersectors. The largest volume supersector gain was in construction, which rose to match the record high set in January 2007.
Although no other supersectors were at record highs in January, three others were at record high levels in November of 2019 – professional & business services, education & health services and leisure & hospitality.
Over the year, total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 40,400 with gains in seven of the 11 supersectors. The largest volume 12-month change among supersectors was an increase of 17,600 jobs in education & health services.
Additional information is available on the L&I Web site at www.dli.pa.gov or by following on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison.
