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To arrange interviews, contact Maisum Murtaza at murtaza@keystoneresearch.org; 732-887-5441.
Keystone Research Notes That PA Employment Ticked Up in July, But National Cooling Concerns Persist — Stay Tuned for Aug. 26 Release of KRC’s “State of Working PA”
Harrisburg, August 19—The Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning released its monthly State Employment and Unemployment News Release with July jobs numbers for each state. In response, Keystone Research Center economist Maisum Murtaza made the following statement:
“While recent revisions to monthly national jobs reports have drawn media attention for downward adjustments, revisions to Pennsylvania’s data in the last several months have not mirrored the national trend. In fact, an upward adjustment of Pennsylvania’s June jobs number by 4,500 – with the addition of more complete and precise data – accompanied the release of preliminary data for July.
Pennsylvania’s nonfarm job growth remained positive in July. The number of non-farm jobs rose by 7,100, bringing jobs to a preliminary 6,237,200, the 15th consecutive month at a record high. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.0%, still lower than the national rate of 4.2%, but up slightly from last year (3.6%). Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate has been below the national rate now for over two years.”
Despite continuing forward momentum in the Pennsylvania economy, the Economic Policy Institute’s analysis of the U.S. numbers for July highlighted that a weak national jobs report could signal a coming recession.
For Keystone Research Center’s annual in-depth look at the Pennsylvania economy, stay tuned for next week’s August 26th release of our annual State of Working Pennsylvania report.