PA job picture looks bleak

From Labor Economist Mark Price of the Keystone Research Center in Harrisburg:

"The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports this morning that national payrolls shrunk again in December by more than a half million jobs. The Pennsylvania share of December's job losses will not be known until the end of January, but all signs point to another round of job losses in the commonwealth. Pennsylvania's continued claims for unemployment insurance in December stood 52 percent higher than during the same month last year. In a mild recession, the unemployment rate in Pennsylvania would likely peak in 2010 at 6.7 percent; the Pennsylvania unemployment rate this November was already at 6.1 percent."

Weak Jobs Report for Nation Likely Spells Trouble for Pennsylvania