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April Jobs Report: Unemployment Falls to 5.7%

Unemployment-300x225Another good month for Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate, which fell to 5.7% in April.

It’s down from 6% in March.

The state job numbers will play a major role in the 2014 campaign and so this is an ongoing PoliticsPA feature.

The good news:

Pennsylvania’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined by three-tenths of a percentage point in April to 5.7 percent, the lowest rate since September 2008.

The state boasts a lower rate than the federal – 6.3%. Since last year, Pennsylvania was down 1.9 percentage points from its April 2013 rate of 7.6 percent.

Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the number of people working or looking for work – was essentially unchanged in April. Resident employment, however, was up 23,000, marking the eighth consecutive gain and the fourth straight increase exceeding 10,000. The number of unemployed residents decreased by 22,000 to its lowest level since September 2008.

This was the ninth consecutive decline and one of the largest on record, according to the Department of Labor and Industry.

Total nonfarm jobs grew by 10,900 in April to reach 5,768,800, the highest level since October 2008.

Most of those jobs come from the private sector, which added 11,600 jobs. The largest gain was in professional & business services (+8,100), which reached a record high at 759,000 jobs. Construction also added a large amount of jobs in April, up 6,500, the third gain in the last four months.

Governor Tom Corbett’s campaign is running with the good news and it will likely be the centerpiece of his general election campaign.

“The people of Pennsylvania elected me to Harrisburg on my promise of less taxes and more jobs, and we continue to see that promise ringing true through another positive jobs report,” stated Governor Tom Corbett. “The Democrats running for governor are all calling for more spending and more tax increases, but we already know how that story ends – it ends with an 8.1 unemployment rate and out-of-control spending. Pennsylvania cannot afford to go back to those days, and as your Governor, we never will.”

As is the campaign’s custom, they rounded up repetitive praise for the Governor from upstanding Republicans across the state.

“It’s no coincidence that we are seeing a vastly improved jobs outlook under Governor Tom Corbett’s less taxes, more jobs agenda. Governor Corbett will be the first person to tell you that he didn’t go to Harrisburg to make friends, he went there to make a difference, and he is doing just that,” Pennsylvania’s Republican National Committee National Committeewoman Christine Toretti said. “I have never seen four Democrats running for governor speak so openly and proudly about their desire to raise taxes. We cannot let that happen because we have come too far under Governor Corbett’s leadership to turn back the clock to the years of higher spending, higher taxes and higher unemployment.”

“It is no coincidence that under Governor Tom Corbett’s less taxes, more jobs agenda that we are seeing drastic improvement to Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate,” Pennsylvania Business Council’s President & CEO David Patti said. “Governor Corbett has created a business climate in Pennsylvania that has made it possible for Pennsylvania businesses to put people back to work. In order to create jobs, business need stability and certainty from the government, and that is exactly what we have gotten under Governor Tom Corbett’s leadership.”

“Today’s jobs report is more great news for Pennsylvania thanks to Governor Tom Corbett’s leadership in Harrisburg. Governor Corbett has stood by his promise of less taxes and more jobs even though it wasn’t always the politically convenient thing to do, and that’s great news because it’s working,” State Rep. and Montco GOP Chairman Mike Vereb said. “The choice in November couldn’t be clearer – it’s a choice between a Governor who has kept his promises and one of four Democrats who have all promised to raise taxes if they are elected. I’ll proudly take four more years of Governor Corbett’s less taxes, more jobs agenda.”

The less than stellar news:

Public sector jobs fell by 700 and compared to other states, Pennsylvania’s recovery hasn’t been speedy.

We still rank 47th in a 12 month moving average from the W. P. Carey School of Business at the University of Arizona.

10 Responses

  1. What are the numbers in PA of those who are unemployed and not on unemployment. It still seems there are a lot of people who are still unemployed who aren’t getting unemployment compensation.

  2. Thank you Governor Corbett for continuing to improve PA’s economy. Not bad considering the constant smearing from the media and teacher’s unions

  3. This story may not matter to those of us who are privileged to work jobs that afford enough time to also be political junkies who post comments on Politics PA all day, but it does matter to those Pennsylvanians who are now employed. Policies that cut taxes encourage job creation. That is simply reality of how businesses work. When they don’t make money because they are paying more and more to bloated government, they lay off their workforce. When they profit and grow, they hire. And that helps our friends and neighbors who may not be as fortunate as we are. So while it may be wretchedly inconvenient to admit that standing for fiscal responsibility does work, that inconvenience makes it no less true.

  4. I have suggested numerous times on this site that our governor had no plans to rollover and play dead. No matter who wins tomorrow’s primary, this is going to be a tough fight, and it’s going to be close. I am happy for those who found work, but beating the govenor just got harder.

  5. Dear PA Soccer Moms with Money: I am Liam, Tom Corbett’s mixed race adopted grandson. Your going to see more of me in the Fall than those Etrade babies. My grand pappy Tom Corbett is a great Grandfather. He has pre-enrolled me in Pennsylvania’s best Philadelphia Charter School. He says my Mommy and I will soon have Corbett Care. My Grand Pap dropped the voter ID law so I can look forward to voting very soon. Please keep Paps in the Governor’s Mansion for 4 more years so I don’t have to worry about the Castle Doctrine, at least for the next four years. Pull out your credit card. Be generous. The Man in the Black Armani suit, Uncle Brabender is making me nervous. Please give $1000.00 or more so I can get the appearance fee that Dark Prince Brabender has offered me. http://www.keystonepolitics.com/2014/05/susan-corbetts-six-page-hand-written-plea-money/

  6. The number of people looking for work remaining the same for the month doesn’t signify job growth. It means there are still people searching and the growth is still stagnant.

  7. I seem to remember two years ago the Republican Party being pretty convinced that unemployment numbers were the direct result of the immediate actions of the current President of the United States.

    Shouldn’t they be congratulating the White House instead of touting state-level policies that they themselves clearly did not believe could have an effect on unemployment just 20 months ago?

  8. @um.what, that means that the long-term unemployed that removed themselves from the labor pool by stopping their job search have recommenced their search.

  9. How exactly is the number of people looking for work staying the same good news? Looks like you’ll be stuffing the ballot for Corbett

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