[naviga:h3]PA jobless rate at nearly 2-decade low[/naviga:h3]

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped in January to a nearly two-decade low, as the pool of job-seekers grew and payrolls shrank slightly.

The state Department of Labor and Industry said Friday that Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate ticked down by one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.0 percent in January.

The national rate was 4 percent in January and 3.8 percent in February.

A survey of households found Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force grew by 10,000, as employment rose by 14,000 to a record close to 6.2 million. Unemployment shrank by 5,000 to 266,000, its lowest level since 2007.

A separate survey of employers showed seasonally adjusted nonfarm payrolls shrank by 500 in January. Construction grew the most of any sector, while education and health services shrank the most.

Friday’s figures are preliminary and could change.

[naviga:h3]Special election for 2 vacant seats set[/naviga:h3]

HARRISBURG — Voters in two Pennsylvania state Senate districts will pick candidates in May to fill the terms of a couple departed senators.

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman announced Friday that the special elections will be held on the same day as the state’s May 21 primary election.

Republican Sens. Rich Alloway of Franklin County and Don White of Indiana each stepped down Feb. 28. Their four-year terms run to January 2021. Both districts heavily favor Republicans.

The 50-seat Senate is currently operating with 47 members. Another special election is set for April 2 to replace Republican Guy Reschenthaler, who left his seat in a politically divided suburban Pittsburgh district to serve in Congress.

Republicans currently control the Senate 26-21.

[naviga:h3]Lottery machines down most of day[/naviga:h3]

HARRISBURG — Lottery officials say many machines around Pennsylvania had been offline for most of the day due to a service outage.

Department of Revenue spokesman Jeffrey Johnson said the outage Friday was due to connectivity issues with Verizon’s cellular service at some terminals throughout the state. It only affected machines that use Verizon as their service.

Johnson said that all machines were back up and running as of 4 p.m.

The department got word of the outages around 8 a.m. Around 3 p.m., Johnson said the issue was almost resolved entirely.

The outage came the same day Pennsylvania Lottery officials announced Friday’s Cash 5 jackpot was the highest it’s ever been at $2.4 million.

[naviga:h3]Grad assistants can hold union vote[/naviga:h3]

PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania labor board has ruled graduate students in Pittsburgh can hold an election to join a union.

The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board sided with the University of Pittsburgh graduate assistants who are affiliated with the United Steelworkers in the ruling announced Thursday. United Steelworkers representatives argue the ruling demonstrates that 2,000 teaching assistants, teaching fellows, graduate assistants and graduate student researchers are university employees and entitled to seek union representation.

The university said in a statement that it is disappointed with the ruling and it is evaluating options.

The university, Steelworkers and PLRB will determine when the union election will take place.