HARRISBURG: The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry has released its employment situation report for June. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was up one-tenth of a percentage point from May to 5.6 percent.
Pennsylvania’s rate remained above that of the United States, which was up two-tenths of a percentage point to 4.9 percent. The commonwealth’s rate was up one-half of a percentage point since June of 2015, while the national rate declined by four-tenths of a percentage point over the year. Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force was down 4,000 from May’s record high level to 6,537,000. Resident employment declined by 7,000 while the unemployment count increased by 3,000.
Total non-farm jobs rose 20,000 to 5,893,400 in June. Nine of the 11 super-sectors added jobs from May. The largest gain was in information (+5,200) following the end of the strike at Verizon. The only two super-sectors to decline were mining & logging and trade, transportation & utilities. Over the year, total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 62,700 (+1.1 percent). Seven of the 11 super-sectors added jobs from last June, and of the four that declined, only one was down by more than 400.
