Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) today released its preliminary employment situation report for March 2024.
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate was unchanged over the month at 3.4% in March. This was the sixth consecutive month at 3.4%. The U.S. unemployment rate declined by one-tenth of a percentage point from its February rate to 3.8%.
The Commonwealth's unemployment rate was one-tenth of a percentage point below its March 2023 level of 3.5%, while the national rate was up three-tenths of a percentage point over the year.
Pennsylvania's civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – was up 20,000 over the month due mostly to growth in resident employment.
Pennsylvania's total nonfarm jobs were up 15,300 over the month to a record high of 6,148,900. This was the eighth consecutive record high for Pennsylvania's jobs count. Jobs increased from February in eight of the 11 industry supersectors with the largest gain in leisure & hospitality. Two supersectors – financial activities and education &health services - rose to record high levels in March.
Over the year, total nonfarm jobs were up 78,200 with gains in five of the 11 supersectors. Education & health services (+55,700) had the largest volume over-the-year gain among supersectors.
Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison. March 2024 data are preliminary and subject to revision.
Additional information is available on the L&I website at www.dli.pa.gov or by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
| Current Labor Force Statistics | |||||||
| Seasonally Adjusted | |||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||
| Change from | Change from | ||||||
| March | February | March | February 2024 | March 2023 | |||
| 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | volume | percent | volume | percent | |
| PA | |||||||
| Civilian Labor Force | 6,579 | 6,559 | 6,507 | 20 | 0.3% | 72 | 1.1% |
| Employment | 6,356 | 6,338 | 6,276 | 18 | 0.3% | 80 | 1.3% |
| Unemployment | 223 | 221 | 231 | 2 | 0.9% | -8 | -3.5% |
| Rate | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 0.0 | ---- | -0.1 | ---- |
| U.S. | |||||||
| Civilian Labor Force | 167,895 | 167,426 | 166,690 | 469 | 0.3% | 1,205 | 0.7% |
| Employment | 161,466 | 160,968 | 160,824 | 498 | 0.3% | 642 | 0.4% |
| Unemployment | 6,429 | 6,458 | 5,866 | -29 | -0.4% | 563 | 9.6% |
| Rate | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.5 | -0.1 | ---- | 0.3 | ---- |
| Note: April 2024 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released on May 17th, 2024. | |||||||
| Pennsylvania Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment | |||||||
| Seasonally Adjusted | |||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||
| Change from | Change from | ||||||
| March | February | March | February 2024 | March 2023 | |||
| 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | volume | percent | volume | percent | |
| Total Nonfarm Jobs | 6,148.9 | 6,133.6 | 6,070.7 | 15.3 | 0.2% | 78.2 | 1.3% |
| Goods Producing Industries | 845.6 | 845.8 | 851.6 | -0.2 | 0.0% | -6.0 | -0.7% |
| Mining & Logging | 23.0 | 23.0 | 23.2 | 0.0 | 0.0% | -0.2 | -0.9% |
| Construction | 256.8 | 256.5 | 260.9 | 0.3 | 0.1% | -4.1 | -1.6% |
| Manufacturing | 565.8 | 566.3 | 567.5 | -0.5 | -0.1% | -1.7 | -0.3% |
| Service Providing Industries | 5,303.3 | 5,287.8 | 5,219.1 | 15.5 | 0.3% | 84.2 | 1.6% |
| Trade, Transportation & Utilities | 1,138.3 | 1,135.5 | 1,143.6 | 2.8 | 0.2% | -5.3 | -0.5% |
| Information | 93.9 | 93.8 | 94.5 | 0.1 | 0.1% | -0.6 | -0.6% |
| Financial Activities | 343.4 | 342.4 | 339.4 | 1.0 | 0.3% | 4.0 | 1.2% |
| Professional & Business Services | 838.2 | 835.2 | 844.8 | 3.0 | 0.4% | -6.6 | -0.8% |
| Education & Health Services | 1,355.2 | 1,352.2 | 1,299.5 | 3.0 | 0.2% | 55.7 | 4.3% |
| Leisure & Hospitality | 577.8 | 572.3 | 557.5 | 5.5 | 1.0% | 20.3 | 3.6% |
| Other Services | 260.0 | 260.2 | 256.6 | -0.2 | -0.1% | 3.4 | 1.3% |
| Government | 696.5 | 696.2 | 683.2 | 0.3 | 0.0% | 13.3 | 1.9% |
| 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: April 2024 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released on May 17th, 2024. | |||||||