Pennsylvania maintains 3.4% unemployment rate for 11th straight month

PENNSYLVANIA (WOLF) — The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) released its preliminary employment situation report for August 2024.

For the 11th consecutive month, Pennsylvania's unemployment rate in August remained unchanged over the month at 3.4%. The rate remained well under the U.S. unemployment rate which fell by one-tenth of a percentage point from its July rate to 4.2 percent.

The Commonwealth's unemployment rate was one-tenth of a percentage point above its August 2023 level of 3.3 percent, while the national rate was up 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 down 22,000 over the month to 6,581,000 in August. Resident employment (-20,000) accounted for the majority of the labor force decline.

Pennsylvania's total nonfarm jobs were up 8,000 over the month to a record high of 6,200,000, setting the 13th consecutive record high for Pennsylvania's jobs count. Jobs increased from July in seven of the 11 industry supersectors. The largest supersector movement was a gain of 4,500 jobs in education & health services which reached a record high for the 15th consecutive month.

Over the year, total nonfarm jobs were up 102,600 with gains in nine of the 11 supersectors. Education & health services (+59,600) had the largest volume over-the-year gain.

Note: September 2024 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released on October 18th, 2024.