To arrange interviews with KRC researchers, contact John Neurohr at jneurohr@clearpointpa.com; 717-364-6452.
With the release this morning of the Pennsylvania employment situation report for June 2025 by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, Keystone Research Center economist Maisum Murtaza released the following statement:
“Pennsylvania’s job growth remains positive notwithstanding economic uncertainty nationally, though with a second month of growth below the trend for the past year. The number of jobs rose by 4,200 in June, a 14th consecutive high in non-farm jobs. While above the 2,000 May increase, the last two months fell below the roughly 8,000 per month average jobs jump over the past year.
In June, job gains by industry were small, with the largest gain being 6,100 in Education and Health Services. Slow job growth was coupled with a slight drop in the Pennsylvania labor force, consistent with the national trend in June highlighted by the Economic Policy Institute.
EPI also noted the national increase of Black unemployment to 6.8%. During the long pandemic recovery, a PA unemployment rate that fell to around 3.5 percent for an extended period, enabled demographic groups that have consistently high unemployment rates to close their unemployment gap compared to all workers. In the last 12 months, Pennsylvania unemployment has gone from 3.6 percent to the 4.0 percent rate in June 2025. EPI analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that Pennsylvania’s Black unemployment rate in the past 12 months (ending in June 2025) climbed to 5.8%, its highest point since January of 2023.”