PA’s unemployment rate down to 5.7 percent in November

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Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) released its preliminary employment situation report for November 2021.

Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was down three-tenths of a percentage point over the month to 5.7 percent in November. The U.S. rate fell four-tenths of a percentage point from its October level to 4.2 percent. The commonwealth’s unemployment rate was 1.4 percentage points below its November 2020 level and the national rate was down 2.5 points over the year.

Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – decreased 10,000 over the month. Resident unemployment fell for the ninth consecutive month, down 18,000 in November.

Pennsylvania’s total nonfarm jobs were up 13,500 over the month to 5,781,800 in November, the seventh consecutive gain. Jobs rose from October levels in 8 of the 11 industry supersectors with the largest increase in trade, transportation & utilities (+5,700). Over the year, total nonfarm jobs were up 144,000 with gains in 10 of the 11 supersectors. Leisure & hospitality had the largest 12-month gain, up 46,300 jobs from last November. All supersectors remained below their February 2020, pre-pandemic job levels.

Additional information is available on the L&I website at www.dli.pa.gov or by following us on FacebookTwitter, and LinkedIn.

Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison. A breakdown of Pennsylvania’s employment statistics follows.

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Current Labor Force Statistics
Seasonally Adjusted
(in thousands)
Change from Change from
November October November October 2021 November 2020
2021 2021 2020 volume percent volume percent
PA
Civilian Labor Force 6,259 6,269 6,311 -10 -0.2% -52 -0.8%
Employment 5,899 5,893 5,865   6  0.1%  34   0.6%
Unemployment 359 377 446 -18 -4.8% -87 -19.5%
Rate 5.7 6.0 7.1 -0.3 —- -1.4 —-
U.S.
Civilian Labor Force 162,052 161,458 160,536 594 0.4% 1,516    0.9%
Employment 155,175 154,039 149,809 1,136 0.7% 5,366    3.6%
Unemployment 6,877 7,419 10,728 -542 -7.3% -3,851 -35.9%
Rate 4.2 4.6 6.7 -0.4 —- -2.5 —-
Note: December 2021 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released on January 21, 2022.
Pennsylvania Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment
Seasonally Adjusted
(in thousands)
Change from Change from
November October November October 2021 November 2020
2021 2021 2020 volume percent volume percent
Total Nonfarm Jobs 5,781.8 5,768.3 5,637.8 13.5 0.2% 144.0 2.6%
Goods Producing Industries 820.7 819.3 809.2 1.4 0.2% 11.5  1.4%
  Mining & Logging 21.6 21.4 21.0 0.2 0.9% 0.6  2.9%
  Construction 246.0 246.1 251.0 -0.1 0.0% -5.0 -2.0%
  Manufacturing 553.1 551.8 537.2 1.3 0.2% 15.9  3.0%
Service Providing Industries 4,961.1 4,949.0 4,828.6 12.1 0.2% 132.5 2.7%
  Trade, Transportation & Utilities 1,113.9 1,108.2 1,086.5 5.7 0.5% 27.4 2.5%
  Information 86.9 86.2 80.9 0.7 0.8% 6.0 7.4%
  Financial Activities 329.4 329.0 323.6 0.4 0.1% 5.8 1.8%
  Professional & Business Services 784.5 779.4 753.6 5.1 0.7% 30.9 4.1%
  Education & Health Services 1,243.8 1,245.8 1,239.8 -2.0 -0.2% 4.0 0.3%
  Leisure & Hospitality 490.1 488.0 443.8 2.1 0.4% 46.3 10.4%
  Other Services 238.9 239.0 228.1 -0.1 0.0% 10.8 4.7%
  Government 673.6 673.4 672.3 0.2 0.0% 1.3 0.2%
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.pa.gov
Note: December 2021 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released on January 21, 2022.

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