HARRISBURG, Pa. — On Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) released its employment situation report for April 2019.

Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate decreased one-tenth of a percentage point to a record low 3.8 percent in April – the lowest rate since 1976. The national rate was down two-tenths of a percentage point from March to 3.6 percent. The Pennsylvania unemployment rate declined by one-half of a percentage point from April 2018.

The civilian labor force, the estimated number of Pennsylvania residents working or looking for work, declined for the first time in 2019. This was attributable to a large drop in the number of unemployed residents, which reached its lowest level in 18 years. Unemployment rested at 248,000 in April – only 4,000 above its record low. The number of employed Pennsylvanians rose by 3,000 to a record high of 6,222,000.

The estimated number of jobs in Pennsylvania, referred to as total nonfarm jobs, was up 9,400 from March to a record high of 6,056,100. Highlights from this month’s jobs report include:

• Fifth consecutive gain as well as fifth consecutive record high.
• Total nonfarm jobs increased over the month in eight of the 11 industry supersectors.
• The largest volume change was in professional & business services, up 4,700.
• Professional & business services, education & health services and leisure & hospitality all rose to record high job levels.

Over the past 12 months, jobs increased by 58,300 in the commonwealth with gains in nine of the 11 supersectors. Education & health services had the largest volume 12-month gain.

Additional information is available on the L&I website at www.dli.pa.gov.

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

Click here to view Current Labor Force Statistics.