Pennsylvania's Employment Situation for May 2012

HARRISBURG, Pa., June 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 7.4 percent in May, unchanged from April, in spite of the national rate ticking up from 8.1 percent in April to 8.2 percent in May. Pennsylvania's unemployment rate was below the U.S. rate of 8.2 percent, and has been below the U.S. rate for 49 consecutive months, and at or below the U.S. rate for 67 consecutive months.

The state's unemployment rate was down 0.6 percentage points from May 2011.

Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted civilian labor force – the number of people working or looking for work – was up 23,000 in May to 6,452,000. Resident employment was up 23,000 to 5,977,000, and the number of unemployed residents was unchanged at 475,000. Pennsylvania's labor force was 68,000 above its May 2011 level.

Seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were down 9,900 in May to 5,713,300. Both goods producers and service providers experienced declines in May despite increases in six of the 11 supersectors. Leisure & hospitality had the largest decrease of any supersector in May, down 4,300 jobs. The largest increase was a gain of 1,800 professional & business services jobs. Mining & logging added 500 jobs to reach a record high of 38,800 jobs in May, and has added jobs in 33 of the last 35 months.

Pennsylvania's job count was up 27,800 (0.5 percent) over the year while national total nonfarm jobs were up 1,782,000 (1.4 percent) over the past 12 months.

Media contact: Sara Goulet, 717-787-7530

Editor's Note: A breakdown of Pennsylvania's employment statistics is available at the Department of Labor & Industry's website, www.dli.state.pa.us.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry

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