HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted civilian labor force -- the number of people working or looking for work -- rose to 6,446,000 in October. Resident employment fell by 2,000 for the month, while unemployment was up 4,000. The labor force was up 157,000 since October 2007, with employment and unemployment up over the year.

Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 5.8 percent in October, up one tenth of a percentage point from September. The United States' rate increased four tenths of a percentage point over the month to 6.5 percent. The state rate has been below the national rate for six consecutive months, and it has been at or below the national rate for 68 out of the past 70 months.

Over the year, Pennsylvania's rate was up 1.4 percentage points, while the U.S. rate was up 1.7 percentage points.

Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted non-farm job count fell by 7,300 in October to 5,784,000. Job losses for the month were concentrated in two sectors - manufacturing was down 4,000; and trade, transportation and utilities dropped 10,500. Most other sectors changed little, though three - professional and business services, financial activities, and leisure and hospitality - showed gains of more than 1,000 jobs in October.

Since October 2007, Pennsylvania's job count was down 16,000. Since January 2003, the state has added 158,300 jobs.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A breakdown of Pennsylvania's employment statistics follows.

Current Labor Force Statistics
Seasonally Adjusted
(in thousands)

Change from Change from
Oct. Sept. Oct. September 2008 October 2007
2008 2008 2007 volume percent volume percent
PA
Civilian
Labor Force 6,446 6,445 6,289 1 0.0% 157 2.5%

Employment 6,075 6,077 6,013 -2 0.0% 62 1.0%

Unemployment 372 368 276 4 1.1% 96 34.8%

Rate 5.8 5.7 4.4 0.1 ---- 1.4 -----

U.S.
Civilian
Labor Force 155,038 154,732 153,306 306 0.2% 1,732 1.1%

Employment 144,958 145,255 146,016 -297 -0.2% -1,058 -0.7%

Unemployment 10,080 9,477 7,291 603 6.4% 2,789 38.3%

Rate 6.5 6.1 4.8 0.4 ---- 1.7 -----

Pennsylvania Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment
Seasonally Adjusted
(in thousands)

Change from Change from
Oct. Sept. Oct. September 2008 October 2007
2008 2008 2007 volume percent volume percent

Total
Nonfarm
Jobs 5,784.0 5,791.3 5,800.0 -7.3 -0.1% -16.0 -0.3%

Goods
Producing
Industries 909.0 912.9 937.9 -3.9 -0.4% -28.9 -3.1%

Natural
Resources &
Mining 22.0 21.7 21.4 0.3 1.4% 0.6 2.8%

Construction 256.0 256.2 263.1 -0.2 -0.1% -7.1 -2.7%

Manufacturing 631.0 635.0 653.4 -4.0 -0.6% -22.4 -3.4%

Service
Providing
Industries 4,875.0 4,878.4 4,862.1 -3.4 -0.1% 12.9 0.3%

Trade,
Transportation
& Utilities 1,115.7 1,126.2 1,131.0 -10.5 -0.9% -15.3 -1.4%

Information 105.2 105.8 107.7 -0.6 -0.6% -2.5 -2.3%

Financial
Activities 328.1 326.9 331.6 1.2 0.4% -3.5 -1.1%

Professional
& Business
Services 713.8 710.4 708.7 3.4 0.5% 5.1 0.7%

Education &
Health
Services 1,103.4 1,102.9 1,082.1 0.5 0.0% 21.3 2.0%

Leisure &
Hospitality 503.3 501.9 499.6 1.4 0.3% 3.7 0.7%

Other
Services 256.6 256.1 257.8 0.5 0.2% -1.2 -0.5%

Government 748.9 748.2 743.6 0.7 0.1% 5.3 0.7%

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.state.pa.us

Note: November 2008 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released Dec. 18, 2008.

CONTACT: Troy Thompson
717-787-7530

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry

CONTACT: Troy Thompson of Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry,
+1-717-787-7530

Web Site: http://www.paworkstats.state.pa.us/
http://www.state.pa.us/

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Profile: labor-news