PA now ranked 50th for job growth since January 2011

Pennsylvania’s rank for percent job growth since January 2011 has fallen to last place among states, based on employment data for September 2014 released this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In September, Pennsylvania lost 9,600 jobs while the state’s unemployment rate fell from one-tenth of a percentage point to 5.7% (view the fact sheet http://keystoneresearch.org/sites/default/files/KRC_JobRanking_Sept.pdf).

The Keystone Research Center’s Aug. 28 report The State of Working Pennsylvania 2014 (at http://keystoneresearch.org/state-working-pennsylvania-2014) documented that the commonwealth’s economic recovery has taken longer and been more painful than necessary because of misguided state and national policies.  “Today’s numbers drive home emphatically that you can’t cut your way to prosperity,” said Stephen Herzenberg, executive director of Keystone Research Center. “We were ranked in the top 10 for job growth in 2010. Then tens of thousands of layoffs in education, and the state’s postponed investment in infrastructure and delayed acceptance of Medicaid expansion dollars delivered a body blow to Pennsylvania’s recovery, the effects of which are still being felt.  In recession and recovery, Pennsylvania needs a balanced, creative policy and state budget approach that fuels the state’s economic engine, not an unbalanced one that slams on the brakes.”  

The State of Working Pennsylvania 2014 provides a comprehensive analysis of Pennsylvania’s recent economic performance, including a ranking of that performance against other states on eight indicators in four categories:  job growth, labor market slack (unemployment and underemployment), wage and income growth, and economic growth).

Media Contact: Ellen Lyon, 717-255-7156, lyon@pennbpc.org

The Keystone Research Center is an independent, nonpartisan research organization that promotes a more prosperous and equitable Pennsylvania and U.S. economy. Learn more at http://keystoneresearch.org.