651 Boas Street Room 220 Harrisburg, PA 17121 www.paworkstats.state.pa.us WORKFORCE INFORMATION NEWS RELEASE A-B-E UNEMPLOYMENT RATE ROSE TO 8.4% IN MAY EMBARGOED 12:01 A.M. TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2011 CONTACT: STEVEN ZELLERS INDUSTRY & BUSINESS ANALYST 717-772-1358 HARRISBURG, PA (June 28) - The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the Allentown-Bethlehem- Easton, PA-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) increased two-tenths of a percentage point to 8.4 percent in May. Over the month, Pennsylvania s unemployment rate declined one-tenth of a percentage point to 7.4 percent, while the United States rate increased one-tenth to 9.1 percent. The unemployment rate was down 0.9 percentage points over the year. By comparison, Pennsylvania s rate was down 1.3 percentage points from May 2010, while the United States rate was down one-half of a percentage point over the year. The Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton MSA s rate tied with the Philadelphia, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA s rate for the 12 th lowest among the state s 14 MSAs. The unemployment rate among all MSA s ranged from 5.5 percent in the State College MSA to 8.7 percent in the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre MSA. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton MSA s seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs decreased 1,100 to 335,900 (see Table 2A). Over the year, jobs increased by 1,800. Detailed industry data for the MSA is not seasonally adjusted (see below). Goods producing industries increased 500 jobs, with the gain split between mining, logging, & construction, up 300 jobs, and manufacturing, up 200 jobs. The over-the-month gain in manufacturing was solely within the durable goods sub-sector. Over the year, both durable and non-durable goods are up by 700 and 300 jobs, respectively. Professional and technical services, which includes tax preparation among other industries, declined 500 overthe-month and by 100 over-the-year. Administrative and waste services, which includes landscaping and employment services, had gains of 500 since April and 1,200 since May of last year. Education and health services jobs were down 300 in April, but were up by 1,200 over-the-year. This is a typical movement, as the gains in health care and social assistance were more than offset by the seasonal decreases in educational services, as schools let out for summer vacation.
Leisure and hospitality was up 1,400 over the month as recreation and amusement industries added staff to their payrolls with the warming weather. Government jobs, at 42,600, were down by 100 over the month and down by 3,200 over the year. The federal government was flat over the month, and declined by 1,300 over the year; the over the year drop being primarily due to the absence of census workers. TABLE 1 ALLENTOWN - BETHLEHEM - EASTON METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA (Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton Counties, PA; Warren County, NJ) TOTAL LABOR FORCE, EMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT, AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BY PLACE OF RESIDENCE 1/ TIME PERIOD 418,700 383,700 35,000 8.4 417,800 382,600 35,200 8.4 April 415,600 382,400 33,300 8.0 418,100 383,900 34,200 8.2 March 414,900 378,100 36,800 8.9 416,100 381,600 34,500 8.3 May 2010 420,300 381,300 39,000 9.3 419,600 380,400 39,100 9.3 PENNSYLVANIA MAJOR LABOR MARKET AREAS, PENNSYLVANIA, AND UNITED STATES AREA NAME Allentow n-beth.-east. PA-NJ MSA 418,700 383,700 35,000 8.4 417,800 382,600 35,200 8.4 Altoona MSA 64,600 60,400 4,100 6.4 64,300 60,100 4,200 6.6 Erie MSA 138,300 127,600 10,700 7.7 138,300 127,400 10,800 7.8 Harrisburg-Carlisle MSA 279,400 260,200 19,200 6.9 278,100 258,800 19,200 6.9 Johnstow n MSA 68,900 63,300 5,500 8.0 69,100 63,400 5,700 8.2 Lancaster MSA 264,700 247,800 17,000 6.4 263,700 246,700 17,000 6.4 Lebanon MSA 73,200 68,700 4,500 6.1 73,200 68,700 4,500 6.1 Philadelphia MSA 2,939,400 2,693,600 245,800 8.4 2,944,300 2,697,500 246,800 8.4 Pittsburgh MSA 1,211,700 1,127,900 83,800 6.9 1,213,100 1,128,200 84,900 7.0 Reading MSA 202,300 186,400 15,900 7.9 202,500 186,900 15,600 7.7 Scranton-Wilkes-Barre MSA 279,800 255,400 24,400 8.7 280,600 256,100 24,500 8.7 State College MSA 75,500 71,500 4,000 5.3 74,500 70,400 4,100 5.5 Williamsport MSA 59,300 54,900 4,400 7.4 59,600 55,100 4,400 7.5 York-Hanover MSA 223,300 206,900 16,400 7.4 223,400 207,100 16,200 7.3 PENNSYLVANIA 6,321,000 5,844,000 477,000 7.6 6,344,000 5,873,000 471,000 7.4 UNITED STATES 153,449,000 140,028,000 13,421,000 8.7 153,693,000 139,779,000 13,914,000 9.1 ALL DATA ARE ON 2010 BENCHM ARKS. SOURCE: Center for Workforce Information & Analysis, Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry FOOTNOTES 1/ Estimate of workers by place of residence. These data are controlled to state Current Population Survey (CPS) data which adjusts for commuting and dual job-holding. Workers are counted where they live only once regardless of the number of jobs they may hold. All in-depth inquiries relative to the estimating methodology should be addressed to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. All data are subject to revision during annual benchmarking. 2/ Includes wage and salary workers (including agriculture), self-employed persons, and unpaid family workers (including agriculture), domestic workers, and persons involved in labor-management disputes. 3/ Unemployed as percent of civilian labor force, computed using unrounded data.
TABLE 1A ALLENTOWN - BETHLEHEM - EASTON METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA (Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton Counties, PA; Warren County, NJ) TOTAL LABOR FORCE, EMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT, AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BY PLACE OF RESIDENCE 1/ TIME PERIOD CARBON COUNTY 31,000 28,000 3,000 9.7 31,000 28,000 3,000 9.7 April 30,700 27,900 2,800 9.2 30,900 28,100 2,900 9.3 March 30,800 27,600 3,200 10.3 30,700 27,900 2,900 9.3 May 2010 31,100 27,900 3,300 10.5 31,100 27,800 3,300 10.5 LEHIGH COUNTY 176,100 161,400 14,700 8.3 175,400 161,000 14,400 8.2 April 174,600 160,800 13,800 7.9 175,800 161,600 14,200 8.1 March 174,000 158,900 15,100 8.7 174,700 160,500 14,200 8.2 May 2010 177,300 160,500 16,800 9.5 176,700 160,100 16,600 9.4 NORTHAMPTON COUNTY 151,800 139,500 12,300 8.1 151,600 139,100 12,500 8.2 April 150,700 138,900 11,800 7.8 151,900 139,700 12,200 8.1 March 150,200 137,300 12,900 8.6 150,800 138,600 12,200 8.1 May 2010 152,400 138,700 13,700 9.0 152,200 138,300 13,800 9.1 ALL DATA ARE ON 2010 BENCHM ARK. SOURCE: Center for Workforce Information & Analysis, Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry FOOTNOTES 1/ Estimate of workers by place of residence. These data are controlled to state Current Population Survey (CPS) data which adjusts for commuting and dual job-holding. Workers are counted where they live only once regardless of the number of jobs they may hold. All in-depth inquiries relative to the estimating methodology should be addressed to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. All data are subject to revision during annual benchmarking. 2/ Includes wage and salary workers (including agriculture), self-employed persons, and unpaid family workers (including agriculture), domestic workers, and persons involved in labor-management disputes. 3/ Unemployed as percent of civilian labor force, computed using unrounded data.
TABLE 2 ALLENTOWN-BETHLEHEM-EASTON METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA (Carbon, Lehigh, and Northampton PA counties; Warren County, NJ) NONFARM JOBS Industry Employment Net Change From: ESTABLISHMENT DATA Apr 2011 Mar 2011 May 2010 Apr 2011 May 2010 TOTAL NONFARM 339,800 337,200 332,500 338,300 2,600 1,500 TOTAL PRIVATE 297,200 294,700 289,800 292,500 2,500 4,700 GOODS-PRODUCING 48,800 48,300 47,600 47,500 500 1,300 Mining, Logging, and Construction 12,800 12,500 11,800 12,500 300 300 Manufacturing 36,000 35,800 35,800 35,000 200 1,000 Durable Goods 20,600 20,400 20,400 19,900 200 700 Non-Durable Goods 15,400 15,400 15,400 15,100 0 300 SERVICE-PROVIDING 291,000 288,900 284,900 290,800 2,100 200 PRIVATE SERVICE-PROVIDING 248,400 246,400 242,200 245,000 2,000 3,400 Trade, Transportation, and Utilities 66,900 66,100 66,100 66,300 800 600 Wholesale Trade 13,700 13,600 13,500 13,200 100 500 Retail Trade 37,500 36,900 37,100 38,800 600-1,300 Food and beverage stores 9,800 9,700 9,700 9,700 100 100 General merchandise stores 6,600 6,600 6,600 6,600 0 0 Department stores 4,800 4,700 4,700 4,600 100 200 Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities 15,700 15,600 15,500 14,300 100 1,400 Transportation and Warehousing 14,500 14,400 14,300 13,200 100 1,300 Information 5,900 5,800 5,600 5,600 100 300 Financial Activities 15,000 15,000 15,000 15,300 0-300 Finance and insurance 12,100 12,100 12,200 12,600 0-500 Insurance carriers and related activities 6,500 6,600 6,700 7,000-100 -500 Professional and Business Services 43,700 43,800 42,100 42,800-100 900 Professional and technical services 11,900 12,400 12,300 12,000-500 -100 Management of companies and enterprises 9,300 9,400 9,400 9,500-100 -200 Administrative and waste services 22,500 22,000 20,400 21,300 500 1,200 Employment services 9,300 9,200 7,800 7,600 100 1,700 Education and Health Services 68,900 69,200 68,900 67,700-300 1,200 Educational services 12,100 12,900 12,800 12,700-800 -600 Health care and social assistance 56,800 56,300 56,100 55,000 500 1,800 Hospitals 18,100 18,100 18,100 18,100 0 0 Leisure and Hospitality 33,900 32,500 30,600 33,000 1,400 900 Accommodation and food services 25,400 24,700 24,500 25,600 700-200 Food services and drinking places 23,400 22,800 22,200 23,200 600 200 Other Services 14,100 14,000 13,900 14,300 100-200 Government 42,600 42,500 42,700 45,800 100-3,200 Federal Government 2,300 2,300 2,300 3,600 0-1,300 State Government 2,800 2,900 2,900 3,200-100 -400 Local Government 37,500 37,300 37,500 39,000 200-1,500 Local government educational services 24,100 24,100 24,200 25,000 0-900 Local government excluding educational services 13,400 13,200 13,300 14,000 200-600 Data benchmarked to March 2010 ***Data changes of 100 may be due to rounding***
TABLE 2A TOTAL NONFARM JOBS FOR PENNSYLVANIA, MSAs and Select Areas Industry Employment Net Change From: AREA Apr 2011 Mar 2011 May 2010 Apr 2011 May 2010 PENNSYLVANIA 5,678,700 5,692,900 5,669,000 5,634,400-14,200 44,300 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton MSA 335,900 337,000 335,000 334,100-1,100 1,800 Altoona MSA 61,000 60,500 60,200 60,200 500 800 Erie MSA 129,100 128,600 128,800 126,600 500 2,500 Harrisburg-Carlisle MSA 317,600 319,600 318,700 320,300-2,000-2,700 Johnstown MSA 61,100 61,300 61,100 59,800-200 1,300 Lancaster MSA 226,800 227,600 227,500 228,100-800 -1,300 Lebanon MSA 50,500 50,200 50,200 49,600 300 900 Philadelphia Metropolitan Division 1,872,500 1,871,600 1,874,900 1,869,700 900 2,800 Philadelphia MSA 2,695,200 2,705,300 2,705,200 2,710,700-10,100-15,500 Pittsburgh MSA 1,135,100 1,139,700 1,135,800 1,123,700-4,600 11,400 Reading MSA 168,600 169,400 168,100 166,900-800 1,700 Scranton-Wilkes-Barre MSA 255,400 255,700 255,100 252,700-300 2,700 State College MSA 74,500 74,800 75,000 74,700-300 -200 Williamsport MSA 52,900 52,700 52,500 52,800 200 100 York-Hanover MSA 177,200 177,300 176,100 175,100-100 2,100 Philadelphia City 661,000 662,400 660,600 661,000-1,400 0 Data benchmarked to March 2010 ***Data changes of 100 may be due to rounding*** Note: Beginning with the release of January 2009 data, seasonally adjusted data are available for all of Pennsylvania's published MSAs, as well as the Philadelphia Metropolitan Division and Philadelphia City. Historical data back to 1999 (and for select areas, to 1997) are available for all areas in this table. For more information, please contact the Center for Workforce Information & Analysis at 877-4WF-DATA or by email at workforceinfo@state.pa.us.