Pennsylvania's unemployment rate down to 6.2% in September
Oct. 22—WILKES-BARRE — Pennsylvania's unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point over the month to 6.2% in September.
The U.S. rate fell four-tenths of a percentage point from its August level to 4.8%.
The commonwealth's unemployment rate was 0.9 percentage points below its September 2020 level and the national rate declined 3.0 points over the year.
On Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) released its preliminary employment situation report for September 2021.
Pennsylvania's civilian labor force — the estimated number of residents working or looking for work — decreased by 16,000 individuals over the month, due mostly to a drop of 15,000 in unemployment which fell for the seventh consecutive month.
Pennsylvania's total non-farm jobs decreased by 7,900 over the month to 5,733,700 in September.
The number of jobs increased in seven of the 11 industry super-sectors.
The largest movement was a drop of 16,500 government jobs.
Over the year, total non-farm jobs were up 131,000 with gains in 8 of the 11 super-sectors.
Leisure and hospitality had the largest 12-month gain, adding back 46,100 jobs.
All super-sectors remained below their February 2020 job levels as of September 2021.
Additional information is available on the L&I website at — www.dli.pa.gov — or by following on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
