Pa. Lost 41,000 Jobs In February, Most Since 1996

By MARC LEVY

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — February brought Pennsylvania its steepest job losses since the recession began, led by a big drop in manufacturers' payrolls, according to state figures released Thursday.

All told, the state's employers shed 41,000 jobs in February, or about 1 in every 140 jobs in Pennsylvania. It was the biggest one-month job loss in 13 years. The February unemployment rate hit the highest mark in 16 years.

The size of the job losses were startling and raised the specter that Pennsylvania will not be able to avoid the recession's heavier job losses being felt elsewhere in the nation, said labor economist Mark Price of the Harrisburg-based Keystone Research Center, which is affiliated with organized labor.

"It's clearly beginning to hit Pennsylvania in a way that it hasn't so far," Price said. "Hopefully this is a blip, but we're going to definitely continue to lose jobs, hopefully not at this pace."

The state Labor and Industry Department released the figures on the same day that Gov. Ed Rendell publicly criticized Philadelphia-based refiner Sunoco Inc. for its plan to slash 750 jobs.