Pa. unemployment up in Sept., payrolls down

    Some not so great news this morning: Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate rose for a fourth straight month in September while payrolls shrank.

    The state Department of Labor and Industry said yesterday the statewide jobless rate increased to 8.3 percent from 8.2 percent in August. Pennsylvania’s post-recession high was 8.8 percent in January 2010, and had improved to 7.4 percent in May 2011.

    Nationally, the unemployment rate for September was 9.1 percent.

    Meanwhile, the department says Pennsylvania job growth is stagnant. The number of non-farm jobs dropped by 15,800 in September, to remain below 5.7 million.

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    Payrolls peaked at above 5.8 million in 2008, but after the recession began in December 2007, payrolls dropped below 5.6 million in 2009 and 2010.

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