The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry released its monthly jobs report for March today.

It shows an increase in the unemployment rate by one-tenth of a percentage point to 5.3 percent. All three months of the year’s first fiscal quarter saw increases of 0.1 percent following four consecutive months of decline in the figure during the end of 2014.

The national rate remained stagnant from February at 5.5 percent. From a year ago, the state estimate dropped 0.8 percent while the national number declined by 1.1 percent.

The Good

Over the year, total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 54,700 (+0.9%). The growth was concentrated within private industries, with the largest gains in trade, transportation & utilities, leisure & hospitality, and education & health services.

Of the twelve supersectors, construction showed the biggest gain, up 2,700 from February.

The Mediocre

Only two of the 11 supersectors declined from a year ago – information and government.

Since March 2014, goods producing industries and service providing industries saw increases of 1.3 and 0.9 percent, respectively. But over the past month, goods producing only gained 0.1 percent while service providing fell 0.3 percent.

The Bad

Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force gained 2,000 people in March to a total of 6,375,000. Resident employment was down 5,000 while state unemployment was up 7,000.

Total nonfarm jobs declined by 12,700 leaving the state with about 5,819,300. Both the private and public sectors took a tumble from February, down 11,900 and 800, respectively.

Education & health services saw the largest decrease of 6,300.

Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison.