Labor Market Information on Unemployment in Pennsylvania

Tim McElhinnyJames MartiniCenter for Workforce Information & Analysis

Unemployment Rate: PA & US

January

, 2007

April, 2007

July, 2007

October,

2007

January

, 2008

April, 2008

July, 2008

October,

2008

January

, 2009

April, 2009

July, 2009

October,

2009

January

, 2010

April, 2010

July, 2010

October,

2010

January

, 2011

April, 2011

July, 2011

October,

2011

January

, 2012

April, 2012

July, 2012

October,

2012

January

, 2013

April, 2013

July, 2013

October,

2013

January

, 2014

April, 2014

July, 2014

October,

20144.0%

5.0%

6.0%

7.0%

8.0%

9.0%

10.0%

11.0%

PA US

Short- and Long-Term Unemployed

2007 2010 20140

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

41,598

211,210

116,396

230,980

333,324

248,057

Long-term Short-term

Labor Force Participation Rate

2007 2010 201461.0%

61.5%

62.0%

62.5%

63.0%

63.5%

64.0%

64.5%

65.0%

64.5%

63.2%

62.4%

Labor Force Participation Rate

Discouraged Workers

2007 2010 20140

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

14,463

41,823

36,001

Discouraged Workers

PA Unemployment Rate by Demographic Group

Select PA Labor Force Characteristics

U6: Total Unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part-time for economic reasons

PA Unemployment Rate by Educational Group

UC Exhaustees Quick Facts:

• 64% have a HS diploma or less• 59% made less than $30,000 per year prior to collecting; 84% made less than

$50,000 per year.

• Top Industries prior to collecting by percentage of all exhaustees• Education & Health Services (17%)• Professional & Business Services (17%)• Wholesale & Retail Trade (16%)• Manufacturing (14%)• Construction (11%)

Exhaustee Counts by County – Available Monthly in PA Fast Facts

Survey of UC Recipients – Background

• Over 3,000 telephone interviews conducted from a sample drawn from both short-term and long-term UC claimants (long-term claimants included those exhausting all benefits)

• Respondents were asked demographic questions including on race, age, sex, and educational background

• Also asked questions on current employment status, wage levels, training activities, and commuting

• Differences were also examined between respondents from rural counties and urban counties

• Job search activities were also asked about, both in terms of what respondents had done, and what they considered to be most helpful

Findings from the Survey of UC Recipients

• The average respondent was slightly older, more educated, and more likely to be married the average unemployed individual (based on Current Population Survey data)

• Nearly two-thirds of all respondents indicated that they had received specific training for their occupation prior to collecting UC

• More than half of respondents indicated they had worked for their previous employers for four years or longer; nearly one-quarter said they had been with the same employer for 10 years or longer

• Respondents from rural counties were much more likely than those from urban counties to have worked in a goods-producing industry prior to collecting UC

• Urban respondents were more likely to have stopped receiving UC because their benefits stopped being funded; they were also more likely to not be working but still looking for work

Findings from the Survey of UC Recipients – continued

• Among individuals working 35 hours or more at a primary job, nearly one fourth were still actively looking for full-time work, indicating dissatisfaction with their employment situation

• More than 55% of all respondents indicated they were unemployed during the week prior to being interviewed; this was higher for short-term claimants than long-term claimants

• Approximately 20% of unemployed respondents indicated they had pursued additional training or education; nearly 60% indicated a willingness to pursue additional training or education

• Over 90% indicated utilizing 3 or more types of job search; 58% stated participating in at least 8 different types of job search activities

• Urban respondents were more likely to employ online resources than rural respondents

• The 2 types of job search activity that were most instrumental in either getting a job or closer to getting a job were networking and searching internet job boards