Contact: Trevor Monk, dlipress@pa.gov
Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) today released its preliminary employment situation report for August 2023.
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate was unchanged over the month at 3.5% in August, remaining the lowest rate on record (back to January 1976). The U.S. unemployment rate was up three-tenths of a percentage point from July to 3.8%. The Commonwealth's unemployment rate was 0.8 percentage points below its August 2022 level of 4.3%, and the national rate was unchanged over the year.
Pennsylvania's civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – was up 1,000 over the month. Resident employment rose by 6,000 from July and unemployment fell by 4,000.
Pennsylvania's total nonfarm jobs were up 15,800 over the month to a new record high of 6,164,500 in August. This was the eighth month in a row that jobs have set a new all-time high level. Jobs increased from July in eight of the 11 industry supersectors with the largest gain in education & health services (+7,400), which rose to a record high level. Construction and trade, transportation & utilities also rose to record high levels in August.
Over the year, total nonfarm jobs were up 153,800 with gains in all 11 supersectors. Education & health services (+50,000) had the largest volume over-the-year gain among supersectors.
Additional information is available on the L&I website at www.dli.pa.gov or by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison. August data are preliminary and subject to revision.
# # #
| Current Labor Force Statistics | ||||||||
| Seasonally Adjusted | ||||||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||||
| Change from | Change from | |||||||
| August | July | August | July 2023 | August 2022 | ||||
| 2023 | 2023 | 2022 | volume | percent | volume | percent | ||
| PA | ||||||||
| Civilian Labor Force | 6,499 | 6,498 | 6,476 | 1 | 0.0% | 23 | 0.4% | |
| Employment | 6,273 | 6,267 | 6,197 | 6 | 0.1% | 76 | 1.2% | |
| Unemployment | 226 | 230 | 279 | -4 | -1.7% | -53 | -19.0% | |
| Rate | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 0.0 | ---- | -0.8 | ---- | |
| U.S. | ||||||||
| Civilian Labor Force | 167,839 | 167,103 | 164,714 | 736 | 0.4% | 3,125 | 1.9% | |
| Employment | 161,484 | 161,262 | 158,694 | 222 | 0.1% | 2,790 | 1.8% | |
| Unemployment | 6,355 | 5,841 | 6,021 | 514 | 8.8% | 334 | 5.5% | |
| Rate | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 0.3 | ---- | 0.1 | ---- | |
| Note: September 2023 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released on October 20th, 2023. | ||||||||
| Pennsylvania Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment | |||||||
| Seasonally Adjusted | |||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||
| Change from | Change from | ||||||
| August | July | August | July 2023 | August 2022 | |||
| 2023 | 2023 | 2022 | volume | percent | volume | percent | |
| Total Nonfarm Jobs | 6,164.5 | 6,148.7 | 6,010.7 | 15.8 | 0.3% | 153.8 | 2.6% |
| Goods Producing Industries | 859.9 | 855.2 | 846.1 | 4.7 | 0.5% | 13.8 | 1.6% |
| Mining & Logging | 23.4 | 23.3 | 22.5 | 0.1 | 0.4% | 0.9 | 4.0% |
| Construction | 267.7 | 264.4 | 257.2 | 3.3 | 1.2% | 10.5 | 4.1% |
| Manufacturing | 568.8 | 567.5 | 566.4 | 1.3 | 0.2% | 2.4 | 0.4% |
| Service Providing Industries | 5,304.6 | 5,293.5 | 5,164.6 | 11.1 | 0.2% | 140.0 | 2.7% |
| Trade, Transportation & Utilities | 1,162.3 | 1,160.7 | 1,148.3 | 1.6 | 0.1% | 14.0 | 1.2% |
| Information | 96.4 | 96.5 | 94.2 | -0.1 | -0.1% | 2.2 | 2.3% |
| Financial Activities | 339.3 | 340.2 | 335.3 | -0.9 | -0.3% | 4.0 | 1.2% |
| Professional & Business Services | 868.0 | 870.8 | 847.7 | -2.8 | -0.3% | 20.3 | 2.4% |
| Education & Health Services | 1,321.1 | 1,313.7 | 1,271.1 | 7.4 | 0.6% | 50.0 | 3.9% |
| Leisure & Hospitality | 571.2 | 566.9 | 540.0 | 4.3 | 0.8% | 31.2 | 5.8% |
| Other Services | 257.4 | 256.3 | 251.0 | 1.1 | 0.4% | 6.4 | 2.5% |
| Government | 688.9 | 688.4 | 677.0 | 0.5 | 0.1% | 11.9 | 1.8% |
| 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.workstats.dli.pa.gov | |||||||
| Note: September 2023 labor force and nonfarm jobs statistics will be released on October 20th, 2023. | |||||||