Pa. unemployment rate at 5.4 percent in May
HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was up 0.1 percent from April to 5.4 percent, according to a report Friday from the state Department of Labor & Industry.
Pennsylvania’s seasonally adjusted rate was 0.1 percent below the U.S. rate of 5.5 percent, which also increased by one-tenth of a percentage point in May. The commonwealth’s rate was down 0.5 percentage points from May 2014 while the national rate declined by 0.8 points over the year.
Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force rose 25,000 from April to 6,417,000. Both resident employment and unemployment increased, up 18,000 and 8,000, respectively.
Total nonfarm jobs were up 18,200 in May to a record high of 5,856,900.
Both the private and public sectors added jobs in May.
Education and health services had the largest gain of any supersector, up 8,900 to a record high of 1,197,400.
Over the year, total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 66,800 (+1.2 percent). The growth was concentrated within private industries, with the largest gains in trade, transportation and utilities, education and health services and construction.