Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry says only March 1983 saw a bigger monthly decrease.
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Joseph Prusak, left, with Pennsylvania CareerLink, talks with Carl Dillinger, director of Community Services for the AFL-CIO in Harrisburg, during an unemployment resource fair last year at the IBEW Local 375 building in Allentown.
Unemployment in Pennsylvania decreased by 20,000 jobs from February to March, marking the largest monthly decrease in 30 years, according to the state Department of Labor & Industry.
The department this afternoon released its monthly unemployment report, which also shows the unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point to 7.9 percent in March.
Only in July 1983 did the state see a larger decrease in unemployment, state officials said.
“Pennsylvania continues to see positive signs for our economy as we cautiously but steadily grow out of this recession,” Julia Hearthway, secretary of the Department of Labor & Industry, said in a statement.
The data shows that 512,000 people were unemployed in March. Gains in employment came from leisure and hospitality, which saw an increase of 6,100 jobs, and educational services, which saw an increase of 1,900 jobs, according to the report.
Pennsylvania’s latest numbers come on the heels of a New Jersey statewide unemployment report released earlier this week. That report also showed an improving jobs market. New Jersey’s unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a percentage point to 9 percent in March.
Locally, the most current data for unemployment are February’s numbers, which showed the Lehigh Valley and Warren County had an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent. The local numbers for March are due out later this month.
The national rate was 7.6 percent in March.