Pennsylvania's unemployment rate was 5.4 percent in July, unchanged from June. Pennsylvania's rate was one-tenth of a percentage point above the U.S. rate of 5.3 percent, which was also unchanged in July.
The Commonwealth's rate was down 0.1 percentage points from July 2014 while the national rate declined by 0.9 points over the year.
Pennsylvania's civilian labor force was essentially unchanged from June, up 1,000 to 6,426,000. Resident employment decreased 1,000 while unemployment rose 2,000.
Total nonfarm jobs were up 8,000 in July to 5,856,100. Private sector jobs were up 8,000 while government jobs were flat over the month. Financial activities (+5,000) had the largest gain in July while manufacturing (-2,200) had the largest decline. Education & health services reached a record high for the third month in row.
Over the year, total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 66,500 (+1.1%). The growth was concentrated within private industries, with the largest gains in trade, transportation & utilities, education & health services, and leisure & hospitality, which all added over 10,000 jobs from July 2014.
