HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry yesterday released its employment situation report for August 2014.

Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate rose slightly to 5.8 percent in August, up one-tenth of a percentage point from July. The commonwealth’s rate was three-tenths of a percentage point below the U.S. rate of 6.1 percent, which declined by one-tenth of a point in August. The state rate was down 1.6 percentage points from the August 2013 rate of 7.4 percent.

Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the number of people working or looking for work – declined by 28,000 to 6,344,000 due to a decline in resident employment (-35,000). Unemployment, despite increasing by 6,000 from July, was down 113,000 from August 2013.

Total nonfarm jobs increased by 100 in August to 5,792,700. This was the fifth monthly increase this year, with jobs up 34,600 thus far in 2014. In August, private sector jobs were down by 1,800 while public sector jobs grew by 1,900. The largest gain from July was in education & health services (+3,900). Construction had the largest decline of the month.

Over the year, total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 47,000 (+0.8%). The growth was almost entirely within private industries, with the largest gains in education & health services, trade, transportation & utilities, and construction.

Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison.

Follow this link, to view a breakdown of Pennsylvania’s employment statistics: https://www.pa.gov/Pages/NewsDetails.aspx?agency=PAGovNews&item=16048#.VBzVgU0tDIU