Jobless rate falls, Pa. still bests U.S.
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Unemployment in Pennsylvania dropped to 7.6 percent in December, down from 7.9 percent in November, the state's Department of Labor and Industry reported Thursday.
Employers in the state added a net of 6,500 non-farm jobs to their payrolls during the last month of the year, including 3,000 construction jobs and 2,600 manufacturing jobs.
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate is now almost a full percentage point lower than the national rate of 8.5 percent.
A survey of households that determines the unemployment rate showed the improvement was the result of two factors: Some unemployed people found work, while others gave up looking.
Still, 11,000 more people were working in December than in November, according to numbers seasonally-adjusted to account for fluctuations in the workforce. The state's total Civilian Labor Force fell by 2,000 as people stopped working or looking for work.
Employers reported adding 2,000 jobs in professional and business services in December, but there were 2,400 jobs in financial activities cut and another 1,400 jobs lost in leisure and hospitality.
Government added 1,000 jobs but still showed the biggest overall employment losses from last year of all the major job sectors. Government employment in the state was down a total of 19,800 jobs from December 2010, which is 2.6 percent of the government workforce, including federal, state and local governments and public education.
The only other sector that had fewer jobs in December 2011 than in December 2010 was financial activities, which was down 1,500 jobs, or 0.5 percent.
First Published January 20, 2012 12:00 am
