Harrisburg, PA – Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) released its preliminary employment situation report for September 2021.
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point over the month to 6.2 percent in September. The U.S. rate fell four-tenths of a percentage point from its August level to 4.8 percent. The commonwealth's unemployment rate was 0.9 percentage points below its September 2020 level and the national rate declined 3.0 points over the year.
Pennsylvania's civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – decreased by 16,000 individuals over the month due mostly to a drop of 15,000 in unemployment which fell for the seventh consecutive month.
Pennsylvania's total nonfarm jobs decreased by 7,900 over the month to 5,733,700 in September. The number of jobs increased in seven of the 11 industry supersectors. The largest movement was a drop of 16,500 government jobs. Over the year, total nonfarm jobs were up 131,000 with gains in 8 of the 11 supersectors. Leisure and hospitality had the largest 12-month gain, adding back 46,100 jobs. All supersectors remained below their February 2020 job levels as of September 2021.
Additional information is available on the L&I website at www.dli.pa.gov or by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted to provide the most valid month-to-month comparison. September data are preliminary and subject to revision.
MEDIA CONTACT: Alex Peterson, dlipress@pa.gov
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Editor's Note: A breakdown of Pennsylvania's employment statistics follows.
| Current Labor Force Statistics |
| Seasonally Adjusted |
(in thousands)
|
| | | | | Change from | Change from |
| | September | August
| September
| August 2021 | September 2020 |
| | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | volume | percent | volume | percent |
| PA | | | | | | | |
| Civilian Labor Force | 6,277 | 6,293 | 6,317 | -16 | -0.3% | -40 | -0.6% |
| Employment | 5,886 | 5,888 | 5,867 | -2
| 0.0% | 19 | 0.3% |
| Unemployment | 390 | 405 | 450 | -15 | -3.7% | -60 | -13.3% |
| Rate | 6.2 | 6.4 | 7.1 | -0.2 | ---- | -0.9 | ---- |
| | | | | | | | |
| U.S. | | | | | | | |
| Civilian Labor Force | 161,354 | 161,537 | 160,078 | -183 | -0.1% | 1,276 | 0.8% |
| Employment | 153,680 | 153,154 | 147,543 | 526 | 0.3% | 6,137 | 4.2% |
| Unemployment | 7,674 | 8,384 | 12,535 | -710 | -8.5% | -4,861 | -38.8% |
| Rate | 4.8 | 5.2 | 7.8 | -0.4 | ---- | -3.0 | ---- |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| Note:
October 2021 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released on
November 19th, 2021. |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
|
| Pennsylvania Nonagricultural Wage and
Salary Employment |
Seasonally Adjusted
|
| (in thousands) |
| | | | Change from | Change from |
| September | August | September | August 2021 | September 2020 |
| | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | volume | percent | volume | percent |
| | | | | | | |
| Total Nonfarm Jobs | 5,733.7 | 5,741.6 | 5,602.7 | -7.9 | -0.1% | 131.0 | 2.3% |
| | | | | | | | |
| Goods Producing Industries | 817.0 | 817.1 | 802.4 | -0.1 | 0.0% | 14.6 | 1.8% |
| Mining & Logging | 21.5 | 21.6 | 22.1 | -0.1 | -0.5% | -0.6 | -2.7% |
| Construction | 245.2 | 245.6 | 246.0 | -0.4 | -0.2% | -0.8 | -0.3% |
| Manufacturing | 550.3 | 549.9 | 534.3 | 0.4 | 0.1% | 16.0 | 3.0% |
| | | | | | | |
| Service Providing Industries | 4,916.7 | 4,924.5 | 4,800.3 | -7.8 | -0.2% | 116.4 | 2.4% |
| Trade, Transportation & Utilities | 1,100.6 | 1,097.3 | 1,075.1
| 3.3 | 0.3% | 25.5
| 2.4% |
| Information | 84.4 | 84.2 | 81.9 | 0.2 | 0.2% | 2.5 | 3.1% |
| Financial Activities | 330.1 | 329.8 | 324.3 | 0.3 | 0.1% | 5.8 | 1.8% |
| Professional & Business Services | 772.5 | 774.5 | 752.6 | -2.0 | -0.3% | 19.9 | 2.6% |
| Education & Health Services | 1,247.2 | 1,247.0 | 1,228.0 | 0.2 | 0.0%
| 19.2 | 1.6% |
| Leisure & Hospitality | 473.9 | 467.8 | 427.8 | 6.1 | 1.3% | 46.1 | 10.8% |
| Other Services | 238.5 | 237.9 | 226.8 | 0.6 | 0.3% | 11.7 | 5.2% |
| Government | 669.5 | 686.0 | 683.8 | -16.5 | -2.4% | -14.3 | -2.1% |
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| 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.pa.gov |
|
| | | | | | | |
Note:
October 2021 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released on
November 19th, 2021.
|