March 4, 2016

PA Unemployment Rate Declines To 4.6 Percent In January

The Department of Labor & Industry Friday reported Pennsylvania's unemployment rate was down one-tenth of a percentage point in January to 4.6 percent, the lowest rate since September 2007.
Pennsylvania's rate remained below that of the United States, which also declined one-tenth of a percentage point from December to 4.9 percent.
The Commonwealth's rate was down seven-tenths of a percentage point since January 2015 while the national rate declined by eight-tenths of a percentage point over the year.
Pennsylvania's civilian labor force was up 11,000 in January to 6,448,000. Resident employment rose by 16,000 while the unemployment count declined by 5,000.
Total nonfarm jobs were down 16,100 from December's record high level to 5,852,000 in January. The largest drop was in education & health services, which fell 11,200 from a record high in December. The largest gain was in manufacturing, which increased for the third consecutive month.
Over the year, total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 34,500 (+0.6%). All eight service-providing supersectors added jobs from January 2015, while all three goods-producing supersectors declined. The largest increase from last year was in leisure & hospitality (+16,600), while the largest decline was in mining & logging (-9,300).

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March 3, 2016

February Slot Machine Revenue Up 9 Percent Over 2015

The Gaming Control Board Thursday reported total gross revenue and tax revenue generated from the play of slot machines at casinos during February rose 9.26 percent in February of this year to $200,166,274 compared to the $183,203,043 in gross revenue that was generated in February 2015.
Slot Revenue, even without the extra day in February 2016 due to leap year, would have been up 6.33 percent when compared to the same amount of days in February 2015.
A more complete report is available online.

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March 2, 2016

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March 1, 2016

February State Revenue Collections $51.5 Million More Than Anticipated

Pennsylvania collected $1.9 billion in General Fund revenue in February, which was $51.5 million, or 2.9 percent, more than anticipated, Secretary of Revenue Eileen McNulty reported Tuesday.
Fiscal year-to-date General Fund collections total $17.8 billion, which is $60.7 million, or 0.3 percent, above estimate.
Sales tax receipts totaled $668.3 million for February, $9.3 million below estimate. Year-to-date sales tax collections total $6.5 billion, which is $3.2 million more than anticipated.
Personal income tax revenue in February was $821 million, $28.9 million below estimate. This brings year-to-date PIT collections to $7.5 billion, which is $19.9 million, or 0.3 percent, below estimate.   
February corporation tax revenue of $105.5 million was $47.7 million above estimate. Year-to-date corporation tax collections total $1.7 billion, which is $43.2 million, or 2.7 percent, above estimate.
Inheritance tax revenue for the month was $89.6 million, $23.4 million above estimate, bringing the year-to-date total to $604.9 million, which is $19.7 million, or 3.4 percent, above estimate.
Realty transfer tax revenue was $33.3 million for February, $6.9 million above estimate, bringing the fiscal-year total to $325.1 million, which is $8.7 million, or 2.7 percent, more than anticipated.
Other General Fund tax revenue, including cigarette, malt beverage, liquor and table games taxes, totaled $101.1 million for the month, $1.6 million below estimate and bringing the year-to-date total to $936.4 million, which is $4.6 million, or 0.5 percent, below estimate.
Non-tax revenue totaled $35.7 million for the month, $13.2 million above estimate, bringing the year-to-date total to $246 million, which is $10.4 million, or 4.4 percent, above estimate.
In addition to the General Fund collections, the Motor License Fund received $199.1 million for the month, $11.5 million below estimate. Fiscal year-to-date collections for the fund – which include the commonly known gas and diesel taxes, as well as other license, fine and fee revenues – total $1.7 billion, which is $33.4 million, or 2 percent, below estimate.

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