Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) today released its preliminary employment situation report for January 2025. Per standard practice every year at this time, L&I also released the annual revisions of prior years’ data.
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was up one-tenth of a percentage point over the month to 3.8 percent in January. Still, the Commonwealth’s rate remained below the U.S. unemployment rate of 4.0 percent, which was down one-tenth of a point from its December level.
The Commonwealth’s unemployment rate was one-tenth of a percentage point above the January 2024 level of 3.7 percent, 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 down 6,000 over the month to 6,542,000 in January. Resident employment (-11,000) drove the decline while unemployment (+4,000) rose over the month.
Pennsylvania’s total nonfarm jobs were up 9,500 over the month to a record high 6,190,300 in January. Jobs increased from December in eight of the 11 industry supersectors. The largest supersector movement was a gain of 5,100 in education & health services. Education & health services and other services reached record high job levels in January.
Over the year, jobs were up 75,800 with gains in six of the 11 supersectors. Education & health services (+40,700) had the largest volume over-the-year gain.
Annual Revisions
At the start of each year, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) uses additional or revised information to adjust prior years’ monthly sample-based estimates. Additionally, seasonal adjustment factors for historical labor force and nonfarm jobs data are updated. That process for Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force and nonfarm jobs data through 2024 has been completed and is reflected in the analysis of January’s preliminary data.
Additional information is available on the L&I website at www.dli.pa.gov or by following us on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.
Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison. January 2025 data are preliminary and subject to revision.
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| Current Labor Force Statistics | |||||||
| Seasonally Adjusted | |||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||
| Change from | Change from | ||||||
| January | December | January | December 2024 | January 2024 | |||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2024 | volume | percent | volume | percent | |
| PA | |||||||
| Civilian Labor Force | 6,542 | 6,548 | 6,618 | -6 | -0.1% | -76 | -1.1% |
| Employment | 6,295 | 6,306 | 6,375 | -11 | -0.2% | -80 | -1.3% |
| Unemployment | 246 | 242 | 242 | 4 | 1.7% | 4 | 1.7% |
| Rate | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 0.1 | ---- | 0.1 | ---- |
| U.S. | |||||||
| Civilian Labor Force | 170,744 | 168,547 | 167,339 | 2,197 | 1.3% | 3,405 | 2.0% |
| Employment | 163,895 | 161,661 | 161,190 | 2,234 | 1.4% | 2,705 | 1.7% |
| Unemployment | 6,849 | 6,886 | 6,149 | -37 | -0.5% | 700 | 11.4% |
| Rate | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.7 | -0.1 | ---- | 0.3 | ---- |
| Note: February 2025 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released on March 28th, 2025. | |||||||
| Pennsylvania Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment | |||||||
| Seasonally Adjusted | |||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||
| Change from | Change from | ||||||
| January | December | January | December 2024 | January 2024 | |||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2024 | volume | percent | volume | percent | |
| Total Nonfarm Jobs | 6,190.3 | 6,180.8 | 6,114.5 | 9.5 | 0.2% | 75.8 | 1.2% |
| Goods Producing Industries | 842.6 | 841.3 | 848.0 | 1.3 | 0.2% | -5.4 | -0.6% |
| Mining & Logging | 21.4 | 21.3 | 22.2 | 0.1 | 0.5% | -0.8 | -3.6% |
| Construction | 261.9 | 261.1 | 260.6 | 0.8 | 0.3% | 1.3 | 0.5% |
| Manufacturing | 559.3 | 558.9 | 565.2 | 0.4 | 0.1% | -5.9 | -1.0% |
| Service Providing Industries | 5,347.7 | 5,339.5 | 5,266.5 | 8.2 | 0.2% | 81.2 | 1.5% |
| Trade, Transportation & Utilities | 1,143.9 | 1,144.1 | 1,137.7 | -0.2 | 0.0% | 6.2 | 0.5% |
| Information | 90.9 | 89.7 | 92.2 | 1.2 | 1.3% | -1.3 | -1.4% |
| Financial Activities | 339.6 | 340.7 | 340.3 | -1.1 | -0.3% | -0.7 | -0.2% |
| Professional & Business Services | 833.5 | 838.4 | 834.1 | -4.9 | -0.6% | -0.6 | -0.1% |
| Education & Health Services | 1,384.0 | 1,378.9 | 1,343.3 | 5.1 | 0.4% | 40.7 | 3.0% |
| Leisure & Hospitality | 579.8 | 575.4 | 565.2 | 4.4 | 0.8% | 14.6 | 2.6% |
| Other Services | 267.2 | 266.1 | 259.0 | 1.1 | 0.4% | 8.2 | 3.2% |
| Government | 708.8 | 706.2 | 694.7 | 2.6 | 0.4% | 14.1 | 2.0% |
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: February 2025 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released on March 28th, 2025. | |||||||