HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) has released its preliminary employment situation report for July 2024.
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate remained unchanged over the month at 3.4 percent in July. This was the tenth consecutive month at 3.4 percent and remains well under the U.S. unemployment rate, which rose by two-tenths of a percentage point from its June rate to 4.3 percent.
The Commonwealth’s unemployment rate was two-tenths of a percentage point above its record low July 2023 level of 3.2 percent, while the national rate was up eight-tenths of a percentage point over the year.
Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – was down 1,000 over the month to 6,602,000 in July.
The decline was due to a drop in resident employment which also was down 1,000 from June.
Pennsylvania’s total nonfarm jobs were up 12,200 over the month to a record high of 6,191,000, setting the 12th consecutive record high for Pennsylvania’s jobs count. Jobs increased from June in six of the 11 industry supersectors.
The largest supersector movement was a gain of 7,700 jobs in government. Education & health services reached a record high for the 14th consecutive month.
Over the year, total nonfarm jobs were up 105,000 with gains in eight of the 11 supersectors. Education & health services (+57,100) had the largest volume over-the-year gain among supersectors.
Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally-adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison. July 2024 data are preliminary and subject to revision.
Additional information is available on the L&I Web site at www.dli.pa.gov or by following us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.