Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point in July to 3.9 percent, the first reading below 4 percent since October 2024, according to the state Department of Labor and Industry’s preliminary report released Friday.

The commonwealth now sits two-tenths of a point below the national rate, which fell to 4.1 percent in July. Over the past 12 months, Pennsylvania’s rate has come down half a point from 4.4 percent, while the national rate has declined two-tenths, meaning the state has outpaced the country over the year.

The civilian labor force, the number of residents either working or looking for work, rose by 8,000 over the month to a record high.

For northeastern Pennsylvania, the state figure is a useful benchmark rather than a local one. The Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazleton metropolitan area has historically run above the state rate, and the gap tends to widen in months with heavy seasonal turnover. The metro’s not-seasonally-adjusted rate stood at 4.3 percent in December 2025, and the smoothed seasonally adjusted figure was 4.9 percent for the same month.

The local labor force has been the number worth watching. State analysts have flagged declines in the number of area residents participating in the workforce even as total jobs in the metro have repeatedly set record highs, a combination that can hold the unemployment rate down without reflecting new hiring.

State figures are seasonally adjusted, which makes month-to-month comparisons more reliable. July data is preliminary and subject to revision. County-level and metropolitan figures follow the statewide release each month.