PENNSYLVANIA, USA — The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) said Friday that Pennsylvania's unemployment rate got down to 4.2% in August: the lowest rate since June 2000.
The national unemployment rate was up two-tenths of a percentage point over the month to 3.7%, the department said in a statement. Pennsylvania's rate was also 1.9 percentage points below its August 2021 level, and the national rate was down 1.5 percentage points over the year.
"This moment is an opportunity to reflect on the value of labor and celebrate the fact that Pennsylvania workers have access to a competitive job market right now," L&I Secretary Jennifer Berrier said in a statement. "We must also remember that records are meant to be broken and trends change over time. As we tackle economic challenges of today and tomorrow, we must remain committed to the protection of that most valuable economic asset – people.”
Pennsylvania’s estimated number of residents working or looking for work was also up 2,000 over the month, and the employment count rose 4,000 (to 6,175,000) while resident unemployment declined 2,000 (to 273,000), the department also said.
The Commonwealth's total nonfarm jobs were up 6,700 over the month to 5,984,400 in August, and over the year, total nonfarm jobs were up 201,600 with gains in 10 of the 11 super sectors, the department also said.
Jobs also increased in 7 of the 11 industry super sectors. Trade, transportation & utilities and professional & business services saw the largest gains: both rose to record high levels. Those two, as well as the information super sector, were above their pre-pandemic job levels in Aug. 2022.
Since April 2020, when COVID-19 was at peak performance, Pennsylvania has recovered approximately 90% of jobs lost in the first two months of the pandemic period, L&I also said Friday.
