Pennsylvania's Employment Situation: December 2010

HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8.5 percent in December, down one-tenth of a percentage point from November.

Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell for the fifth consecutive month.

Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted civilian labor force – the number of people working or looking for work – was down 5,000 in December to 6,358,000. Resident employment rose by 4,000, the fourth consecutive month of growth. The number of unemployed residents fell by 10,000 to 538,000. Pennsylvania's labor force was down 35,000 from its December 2009 level.

Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs fell, for the first time in four months, by 1,100 in December to 5,619,800.  Declines were seen in seven of the 11 supersectors, four of which were down at least 1,000 jobs from November (Construction, Manufacturing, Information, and Other Services). Professional & Business services showed the largest gain from November, up 3,800. Education & Health Services also showed noticeable growth, up 2,000 jobs in December. Mining & Logging – the only supersector to not show any monthly declines in 2010, with eleven increases and one month without change – was up 100 jobs in December.

Pennsylvania's job count is up 65,600 (1.2 percent) from December 2009; nationally, nonfarm jobs were up 1,124,000 (0.9 percent) from last year.

Media contact: Christopher Manlove, 717-787-7530

Editor's Note: A breakdown of Pennsylvania's employment statistics follows.

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 2011 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released March 3, 2011.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry