Pa. jobless rate plummets to lowest point in 5 years
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Unemployment in Pennsylvania dropped dramatically in December, but so did the workforce.
The jobless rate plummeted to 6.9 percent, well below the November figure of 7.3, according to seasonally adjusted data released Friday by the state Department of Labor & Industry.
This is the first time since January 2009 – virtually five years – that the figure has been below 7 percent. And the four-tenths of a point dropoff is the largest statewide since 1983.
That 6.9 rate, a full percentage point down from December 2012, was forged partly because 15,000 left the workforce from November to December. Labor & Industry reported Pennsylvania’s workforce dropped 92,000 from the previous December.
The number of nonfarm jobs declined by 11,400 from November, but were up 19,000 over the year.