“Fewer Jobs Lost” is Not a Positive Trend

The Post-Gazette has a story on Pennsylvania’s economy in which both Mark Price of Keystone Research Center and the reporter both repeat the illogical idea that we are losing fewer jobs than in previous months, which is a good sign. This spin is an effort to claim “the stimulus is working, so we need another”, but requires complete economic ignorance.

The state had fewer jobs to begin with, and now it has fewer jobs still. After the loss of 8,000 non-farm jobs in December, Pennsylvania has fewer jobs than at any point since 1999. In fact, over the last year, Pennsylvania has lost jobs, lost labor force participants, and added to the unemployment roles at a faster pace than the national average. (see table from the PA Department of Labor and Industry)

December November December Change from
December 2008
2009 2009 2008 volume percent
PA
Civilian Labor Force 6,310 6,329 6,441 -131 -2.0%
Employment (Household Data) 5,751 5,788 6,029 -278 -4.6%
Unemployment 560 541 412 148 35.9%
Unemployment Rate 8.9 8.5 6.4 2.5 —-
U.S.
Civilian Labor Force 153,059 153,720 154,587 -1,528 -1.0%
Employment 137,792 138,381 143,188 -5,396 -3.8%
Unemployment 15,267 15,340 11,400 3,867 33.9%
Unemployment Rate 10.0 10.0 7.4 2.6 —-

 

PA Jobs in 2007-09 Recession