Contact: Trevor Monk, dlipress@pa.gov
Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) today released its preliminary employment situation report for July 2023.
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate declined three-tenths of a percentage point over the month to 3.5% in July, the lowest rate on record (back to January 1976). The U.S. unemployment rate was also at 3.5%, down one-tenth of a percentage point from June. The Commonwealth's unemployment rate was 0.8 percentage points below its July 2022 level of 4.3%, and the national rate was unchanged over the year.
Pennsylvania's civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – was down 9,000 over the month. Resident employment rose by 6,000 over the month and unemployment fell by 15,000.
Pennsylvania's total nonfarm jobs were up 14,400 over the month to a new record high of 6,149,000 in July. This was the seventh month in a row that jobs have set a new all-time high level. Jobs increased from June in eight of the 11 industry supersectors with the largest gain in education & health services (+6,700), which rose to a record high level. Professional & business services also rose to a record high.
Over the year, total nonfarm jobs were up 143,100 with gains in all 11 supersectors. Education & health services (+45,200) had the largest volume over-the-year gain among supersectors.
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. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison. July data are preliminary and subject to revision.
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| Current Labor Force Statistics | ||||||||
| Seasonally Adjusted | ||||||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||||
| Change from | Change from | |||||||
| July | June | July | June 2023 | July 2022 | ||||
| 2023 | 2023 | 2022 | volume | percent | volume | percent | ||
| PA | ||||||||
| Civilian Labor Force | 6,498 | 6,507 | 6,480 | -9 | -0.1% | 18 | 0.3% | |
| Employment | 6,267 | 6,261 | 6,203 | 6 | 0.1% | 64 | 1.0% | |
| Unemployment | 231 | 246 | 277 | -15 | -6.1% | -46 | -16.6% | |
| Rate | 3.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 | -0.3 | ---- | -0.8 | ---- | |
| U.S. | ||||||||
| Civilian Labor Force | 167,103 | 166,951 | 163,990 | 152 | 0.1% | 3,113 | 1.9% | |
| Employment | 161,262 | 160,994 | 158,272 | 268 | 0.2% | 2,990 | 1.9% | |
| Unemployment | 5,841 | 5,957 | 5,718 | -116 | -1.9% | 123 | 2.2% | |
| Rate | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.5 | -0.1 | ---- | 0.0 | ---- | |
| Note: August 2023 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released on September 15th, 2023. | ||||||||
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