HARRISBURG –  The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) has released its preliminary employment situation report for August 2024. 

For the 11th consecutive month, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate in August remained unchanged over the month at 3.4 percent.

The rate remained well under the U.S. unemployment rate, which fell by one-tenth of a percentage point from its July rate to 4.2 percent. 

The Commonwealth’s unemployment rate was one-tenth of a percentage point above its August 2023 level of 3.3 percent, while the national rate was up four-tenths of a percentage point over the year.

Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – was down 22,000 over the month to 6,581,000 in August.

Resident employment (-20,000) accounted for the majority of the labor force decline.  

Pennsylvania’s total nonfarm jobs were up 8,000 over the month to a record high of 6,200,000, setting the 13th consecutive record high for Pennsylvania’s jobs count. Jobs increased from July in seven of the 11 industry supersectors.

The largest supersector movement was a gain of 4,500 jobs in education & health services which reached a record high for the 15th consecutive month.

Over the year, total nonfarm jobs were up 102,600 with gains in nine of the 11 supersectors. Education & health services (+59,600) had the largest volume over-the-year gain.

Additional information is available on the L&I Web site at www.dli.pa.gov or by following on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

SCRANTON, Pa. — Under extraordinarily tight security, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday visited the Pennsylvania ammunition factory that is producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his country’s fight to fend off Russian ground forces.

Rep. Matt Cartwright, a Democrat who was among those who met with Zelenskyy at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, said the president had a simple message: “Thank you. And we need more.”

The Scranton plant is one of the few facilities in the country to manufacture 155 mm artillery shells and has increased production over the past year. Ukraine has already received more than 3 million of them from the U.S.

Zelenskyy’s visit kicked off a busy week in the United States as he works tirelessly to shore up support for Ukraine in the war. He will speak at the U.N. General Assembly annual gathering in New York on Tuesday and Wednesday and then travel to Washington for talks on Thursday with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The area around the ammunition plant had been sealed off since Sunday morning, with municipal garbage trucks positioned across several roadblocks and a very heavy presence of city, regional and state police, including troopers on horseback.

As Zelenskyy’s large motorcade made its way to the ammunition plant in the afternoon, a small contingent of supporters waving Ukrainian flags assembled nearby to show their appreciation for his visit.

“It’s unfortunate that we need a plant like this, but it’s here, and it’s here to protect the world,” said Vera Kowal Krewson, a first-generation Ukrainian American who was among those who greeted Zelenskyy’s motorcade. “And I strongly feel that way.”

She said many of her friends’ parents have worked in the ammunition plant, and she called Zelenskyy’s visit “a wonderful thing.”

Laryssa Salak, 60, whose parents also immigrated from Ukraine, also said she was pleased Zelenskyy came to thank the workers. She said it upsets her that funding for Ukraine’s defense has divided Americans and that even some of her friends oppose the support, saying the money should go to help Americans instead.

“But they don’t understand that that money does not directly go to Ukraine,” Salak said. ”It goes to American factories that manufacture, like here, like the ammunition. So that money goes to American workers as well. And a lot of people don’t understand that.”

The 155 mm shells made in the Scranton plant are used in howitzer systems, which are towed large guns with long barrels that can fire at various angles. Howitzers can strike targets up to 15 miles to 20 miles (24 kilometers to 32 kilometers) away and are highly valued by ground forces to take out enemy targets from a protected distance.

With the war now well into its third year, Zelenskyy has been pushing the U.S. for permission to use longer range missile systems to fire deeper inside of Russia.

So far he has not persuaded the Pentagon or White House to loosen those restrictions. The Defense Department has emphasized that Ukraine can already hit Moscow with Ukrainian-produced drones, and there is hesitation on the strategic implications of a U.S.-made missile potentially striking the Russian capital.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia would be “at war” with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons.

At one point in the war, Ukraine was firing between 6,000 and 8,000 of the 155 mm shells per day. That rate started to deplete U.S. stockpiles and drew concern that the level on hand was not enough to sustain U.S. military needs if another major conventional war broke out, such as in a potential conflict over Taiwan.

In response the U.S. has invested in restarting production lines and is now manufacturing more than 40,000 155 mm rounds a month, with plans to hit 100,000 rounds a month.

Two of the Pentagon leaders who have pushed that increased production through — Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology and Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer — were expected to join Zelenskyy at the plant. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, also joined the Ukrainian president.

The 155 mm rounds are just one of the scores of ammunition, missile, air defense and advanced weapons systems the U.S. has provided Ukraine — everything from small arms bullets to advanced F-16 fighter jets. The U.S. has been the largest donor to Ukraine, providing more than $56 billion of the more than $106 billion NATO and partner countries have collected to aid in its defense.

Even though Ukraine is not a member of NATO, commitment to its defense is seen by many of the European nations as a must to keep Putin from further military aggression that could threaten bordering NATO-member countries and result in a much larger conflict.

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Copp reported from Washington.

The Minnesota Governor had previously found himself pilloried by conservative politicians and supporters soon after Kamala Harris announced him as her running mate. The online mockery earned him the nickname “Tampon Tim,” which the Democratic side soon embraced owing to its contextual foundation. However, the Saturday event once again saw the Internet fiercely ridicule the politician for a gaffe he let slip.

What did Tim Walz say at the Pennsylvania rally on Saturday?

Walz initially discussed gun violence and focussed on targetting former President Donald Trump and his VP pick, JD Vance, while also firing back at Project 2025, which the Republican presidential hopeful’s campaign has washed its hands of.

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His subsequent ambiguous declaration, “We can’t afford four more years of this,” had many quipping that he was campaigning for Trump now. Following a brief distraction and pointing at a rallygoer in the crowd who needed attention, the governor said, “I’ll bring her home here quick, folks: Look, Kamala Harris made it clear these guys want to instil fear.”

“They want to tell you that [you should] just get over it, it’s a fact of life. This is the way it is,” Walz added, as Fox News reported.

He then continued, “[Harris] simply has said it doesn’t have to be this way. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can’t afford four more years of this.”

Conservatives ridicule Kamala Harris’ running mate

Despite Walz speaking of school shootings and gun violence while alluding to Trump’s stance on gun rights, his confusing slip-up gave conservatives enough fodder to take aim at him.

“WALZ FINALLY TELLS THE TRUTH: ‘We can’t afford four more years’ of Kamala Harris,” Trump War Room, a social media account handled by Trump’s campaign taunted.

Sky News host and political commentator Rita Panahi wrote on X, “Dude is campaigning for Trump now?”

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The former President’s son, Donald Trump Jr., also joked, “I’m with Him/Tim.” He also pinned the post at the top of his X feed.

Former governor Scott Walker also responded to Walz’s video from the event with a simple “True”.

Donald Trump and gun rights

As for Trump’s take on firearm possession, the ex-president firmly asserted that he would “defend the Second Amendment” and oppose firearm limits if elected for another term in November despite narrowly escaping an assassination attempt in July.

“We’ll see a continuation of supporting and defending the Second Amendment, and really where that comes into play is, you know, the judiciary,” Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign said at an event hosted by guns rights group the US Concealed Carry Association at the Republican National Convention.