PA Unemployment Hits 8.8 Percent

Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate moved up a tick to 8.8% in September. That is still below the national rate of 9.8%. The move in the state’s rate comes as the seasonally adjusted civilian labor force -- the number of people working or looking for work -- rose by 9,000 to 6,368,000. The state’s unemployment rate was 3.2 percentage points higher than it was a year ago. Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs count dropped by 10,300 jobs in September. Most of the losses were in the service industry. The state has shed about 3 and a half percent of its jobs in the last year.