PA unemployment rate hits 8.5%

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry has released the July employment numbers and the news is not good. The state lost another 4,800 jobs in July. Pennsylvania has shed 183,300 jobs since July 2008.

From the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry:

Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted civilian labor force -- the number of people working or looking for work -- fell by 52,000 in July to 6,388,000.

Resident employment was down 50,000 for the month, while unemployment fell by 2,000. The labor force was down 8,000 from a year ago.

Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was up one-tenth of a percentage point to 8.5 percent in July.

The state rate remained below the United States' unemployment rate, which decreased by one-tenth of a point to 9.4 percent in July. Pennsylvania's rate was up 3.1 percentage points from July 2008, while the U.S. rate was up 3.6 percentage points over the year.

Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs count decreased by 4,800 jobs in July; marking the smallest decline since October 2008.

At 5,620,700 jobs, the Pennsylvania total fell to its lowest level since February 2004. Goods-producing industries accounted for roughly four out of every five lost jobs in July.

Since July 2008, Pennsylvania jobs were down 183,300, or 3.2 percent. Nationally, jobs were down 4.2 percent over the same period.