  In this paper we show that the center of the partition algebra
$\mathcal{A}_{2k}(\delta)$, in the semisimple case, is given by the subalgebra
of supersymmetric polynomials in the normalised Jucys-Murphy elements. For the
non-semisimple case, such a subalgebra is shown to be central, and in
particular it is large enough to recognise the block structure of
$\mathcal{A}_{2k}(\delta)$. This allows one to give an alternative description
for when two simple $\mathcal{A}_{2k}(\delta)$-modules belong to the same
block.
