Pennsylvania's unemployment rate remains lowest since 1976
June 21, 2019 timesleader
By Bill O’Boyle - boboyle@timesleader.com
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Friday released its employment situation report for May 2019, that shows the state’s unemployment rate was unchanged over the month — remaining at the record low set in April of 3.8 percent. ... State records go back to 1976. ... The national rate, at 3.6 percent, was also unchanged from April.
The commonwealth’s unemployment rate declined by one-half of a percentage point from May 2018, while the national rate was down two-tenths over the same period.
A survey of households found that Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force — the estimated number of residents working or looking for work — was unchanged from April at 6,471,000.
Employment rose by 1,000 to a record high, while unemployment declined 1,000.
Total non-farm jobs rose from April to a record high of 6,051,400.
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Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
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In 1976 Pittsburgh's municipal population was up over 800,000 - then the steel mills stopped hiring. Then the mills started laying everybody off, then they closed. Now in 2018 our city population is hovering near 300,000. Some of the population loss can surely be explained by white flight to the suburbs. However most of the loss is due to the exit of good jobs, forcing entire families to leave the area.
Maybe our unemployment stats match the numbers from 1976, but so what? How can we celebrate a population loss of almost 2/3 of our families, friends and neighbors, who were paying taxes and voting here?
Other PA cities were also hit in the last 40 years but Pittsburgh saw the worst of it. We can't keep losing our PA industries and major employers. We need more government leadership in the creation of new jobs.
