Pennsylvania's Employment Situation: December 2009
Harrisburg – Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted civilian labor force – the number of people working or looking for work – decreased by 19,000 in December to 6,310,000. Resident employment dropped 37,000 in December, while unemployment was up 19,000. The Pennsylvania labor force was down 131,000 from December 2008.
Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 8.9 percent in December, up four-tenths of a percentage point from November. The state rate remained below the national unemployment rate, which remained at 10 percent in December.
Pennsylvania's rate has been at or below the national rate for 83 of the past 84 months. The statewide rate was up 2.5 percentage points from December 2008, while the U.S. rate was up 2.6 percentage points over the year.
Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs count fell by 8,100 jobs in December. Losses were almost equally split between goods producers and service providers. The professional and business services sector, up 4,700 due to a significant gain in temporary help services, showed the largest increase of any sector in December.
Pennsylvania jobs were down 150,300, or 2.6 percent, since December 2008. Nationally, jobs were down 3.1 percent over the same period.
Editor's Note: A breakdown of Pennsylvania's employment statistics follows.
Current Labor Force Statistics
Seasonally Adjusted
(in thousands) |
| |
December |
|
November |
|
December |
|
Change from
November 2009 |
|
Change from
December 2008 |
| |
2009 |
|
2009 |
|
2008 |
|
volume |
|
percent |
|
volume |
|
percent |
| PA |
| Civilian Labor Force |
|
6,310 |
|
6,329 |
|
6,441 |
|
-19 |
|
-0.3% |
|
-131 |
|
-2.0% |
| Employment |
|
5,751 |
|
5,788 |
|
6,029 |
|
-37 |
|
-0.6% |
|
-278 |
|
-4.6% |
| Unemployment |
|
560 |
|
541 |
|
412 |
|
19 |
|
3.5% |
|
148 |
|
35.9% |
| Rate |
|
8.9 |
|
8.5 |
|
6.4 |
|
0.4 |
|
---- |
|
2.5 |
|
---- |
| |
| U.S. |
| Civilian Labor Force |
|
153,059 |
|
153,720 |
|
154,587 |
|
-661 |
|
-0.4% |
|
-1,528 |
|
-1.0% |
| Employment |
|
137,792 |
|
138,381 |
|
143,188 |
|
-589 |
|
-0.4% |
|
-5,396 |
|
-3.8% |
| Unemployment |
|
15,267 |
|
15,340 |
|
11,400 |
|
-73 |
|
-0.5% |
|
3,867 |
|
33.9% |
| Rate |
|
10.0 |
|
10.0 |
|
7.4 |
|
0.0 |
|
---- |
|
2.6 |
|
---- |
Pennsylvania Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment
Seasonally Adjusted
(in thousands) |
| |
December |
|
November |
|
December |
|
Change from
November 2009 |
|
Change from
December 2008 |
| |
2009 |
|
2009 |
|
2008 |
|
volume |
|
percent |
|
volume |
|
percent |
| Total Nonfarm Jobs |
|
5,598.9 |
|
5,607.0 |
|
5,749.2 |
|
-8.1 |
|
-0.1% |
|
-150.3 |
|
-2.6% |
| |
| Goods Producing Industries |
|
815.8 |
|
819.7 |
|
893.8 |
|
-3.9 |
|
-0.5% |
|
-78.0 |
|
-8.7% |
| Mining & Logging |
|
23.8 |
|
24.0 |
|
22.6 |
|
-0.2 |
|
-0.8% |
|
1.2 |
|
5.3% |
| Construction |
|
227.1 |
|
229.7 |
|
249.7 |
|
-2.6 |
|
-1.1% |
|
-22.6 |
|
-9.1% |
| Manufacturing |
|
564.9 |
|
566.0 |
|
621.5 |
|
-1.1 |
|
-0.2% |
|
-56.6 |
|
-9.1% |
| |
| Service Providing Industries |
|
4,783.1 |
|
4,787.3 |
|
4,855.4 |
|
-4.2 |
|
-0.1% |
|
-72.3 |
|
-1.5% |
| Trade, Transportation & Utilities |
|
1,077.1 |
|
1,083.5 |
|
1,104.4 |
|
-6.4 |
|
-0.6% |
|
-27.3 |
|
-2.5% |
| Information |
|
96.4 |
|
95.4 |
|
101.7 |
|
1.0 |
|
1.0% |
|
-5.3 |
|
-5.2% |
| Financial Activities |
|
311.8 |
|
311.8 |
|
328.2 |
|
0.0 |
|
0.0% |
|
-16.4 |
|
-5.0% |
| Professional & Business Services |
|
671.8 |
|
667.1 |
|
700.3 |
|
4.7 |
|
0.7% |
|
-28.5 |
|
-4.1% |
| Education & Health Services |
|
1,132.8 |
|
1,133.5 |
|
1,112.3 |
|
-0.7 |
|
-0.1% |
|
20.5 |
|
1.8% |
| Leisure & Hospitality |
|
488.9 |
|
490.7 |
|
501.8 |
|
-1.8 |
|
-0.4% |
|
-12.9 |
|
-2.6% |
| Other Services |
|
250.7 |
|
249.8 |
|
254.0 |
|
0.9 |
|
0.4% |
|
-3.3 |
|
-1.3% |
| Government |
|
753.6 |
|
755.5 |
|
752.7 |
|
-1.9 |
|
-0.3% |
|
0.9 |
|
0.1% |
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: January 2010 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released March 4, 2010.
For more information contact:
Troy Thompson, 717-787-7530