Pennsylvania sets record for number of jobs, sees unemployment drop in April

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) revealed last week that the commonwealth’s unemployment seasonally adjusted rate dropped to 4.7 percent in April, with the number of jobs reaching a record high for the 13th consecutive month.

The unemployment reduction marked a one-tenth of a percentage point decrease from March and was the first rate decrease after 10 consecutive months at 4.8 percent. Since April 2017, however, the Pennsylvania unemployment rate declined two-tenths of a percentage point.

The Pennsylvania rate remains higher than the national average, which dropped two-tenths of a percentage point to 3.9 percent in April.

The estimated number of the Pennsylvania civilian labor force was down to 6,378,000, dropping 16,000 over the month, as both employment and unemployment numbers declined. Over the past 12 months, resident employment was down by 36,000, and resident unemployment was down by 21,000.

Additional information revealed in the L&I report found that jobs were up in six of the 11 industry supersectors and professional, and business services saw the largest job gain in April. The estimated number of jobs in Pennsylvania, also known as nonfarm jobs, increased by 9,100 in March to a record high of 6,015,300.

Since April 2017, total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 1.4 percent while nine supersectors added jobs with increases ranging from 2,200 in mining and logging to 37,800 in education and health services.