Contact: Trevor Monk, dlipress@pa.gov
Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) today 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%.
The Commonwealth's unemployment rate was one-tenth of a percentage point above its August 2023 level of 3.3%, 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.
Additional information is available on the L&I website at www.dli.pa.gov or by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison. August 2024 data are preliminary and subject to revision.
| Current Labor Force Statistics |
| Seasonally Adjusted |
| (in thousands) |
| | | | | Change from | Change from |
| | August | July | August | July 2024 | August 2023 |
| | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | volume | percent | volume | percent |
| PA | | | | | | | |
| Civilian Labor Force | 6,581 | 6,603 | 6,517 | -22 | -0.3% | 64 | 1.0% |
| Employment | 6,358 | 6,378 | 6,305 | -20 | -0.3% | 53 | 0.8% |
| Unemployment | 223 | 224 | 213 | -1 | -0.4% | 10 | 4.7% |
| Rate | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 0.0 | ---- | 0.1 | ---- |
| | | | | | | | |
| U.S. | | | | | | | |
| Civilian Labor Force | 168,549 | 168,429 | 167,840 | 120 | 0.1% | 709 | 0.4% |
| Employment | 161,434 | 161,266 | 161,500 | 168 | 0.1% | -66 | 0.0% |
| Unemployment | 7,115 | 7,163 | 6,340 | -48 | -0.7% | 775 | 12.2% |
| Rate | 4.2 | 4.3 | 3.8 | -0.1 | ---- | 0.4 | ---- |
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| Pennsylvania Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment | | Seasonally Adjusted | | (in thousands) | | | | | Change from | Change from | | August | July | August | July 2024 | August 2023 | | | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | volume | percent | volume | percent | | | | | | | | | | Total Nonfarm Jobs | 6,200.0 | 6,192.0 | 6,097.4 | 8.0 | 0.1% | 102.6 | 1.7% | | | | | | | | | | | Goods Producing Industries | 849.5 | 849.5 | 847.6 | 0.0 | 0.0% | 1.9 | 0.2% | | Mining & Logging | 23.3 | 23.2 | 22.6 | 0.1 | 0.4% | 0.7 | 3.1% | | Construction | 259.4 | 258.9 | 260.0 | 0.5 | 0.2% | -0.6 | -0.2% | | Manufacturing | 566.8 | 567.4 | 565.0 | -0.6 | -0.1% | 1.8 | 0.3% | | | | | | | | | | Service Providing Industries | 5,350.5 | 5,342.5 | 5,249.8 | 8.0 | 0.1% | 100.7 | 1.9% | | Trade, Transportation & Utilities | 1,146.2 | 1,145.5 | 1,143.6 | 0.7 | 0.1% | 2.6 | 0.2% | | Information | 91.0 | 91.8 | 92.1 | -0.8 | -0.9% | -1.1 | -1.2% | | Financial Activities | 342.5 | 343.5 | 339.1 | -1.0 | -0.3% | 3.4 | 1.0% | | Professional & Business Services | 840.4 | 836.5 | 840.1 | 3.9 | 0.5% | 0.3 | 0.0% | | Education & Health Services | 1,380.5 | 1,376.0 | 1,320.9 | 4.5 | 0.3% | 59.6 | 4.5% | | Leisure & Hospitality | 586.1 | 586.6 | 561.4 | -0.5 | -0.1% | 24.7 | 4.4% | | Other Services | 263.4 | 262.5 | 257.6 | 0.9 | 0.3% | 5.8 | 2.3% | | Government | 700.4 | 700.1 | 695.0 | 0.3 | 0.0% | 5.4 | 0.8% | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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For a more detailed breakdown of seasonally adjusted jobs data at the sector level, please visit www.workstats.dli.pa.gov. Note: September 2024 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released on October 18th, 2024.
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