Half Of PA Jobs Lost At Start Of Pandemic Are Back, Data Shows

HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate went up slightly in July to 13.7 percent, but officials, in new data released Friday, say the state has now recovered nearly half of the jobs lost in March and April.

The state's unemployment rate went up one-half of a percentage point in July over the previous month. Pennsylvania's unemployment rate is above the national rate, which fell 0.9 percentage points from June’s level to 10.2 percent.

Since the pandemic began, more than 2 million in Pennsylvania have filed unemployment compensation claims.

But Pennsylvania’s total nonfarm jobs — those that exclude proprietors, private household employees, unpaid volunteers, farm employees, and the unincorporated self-employed — were up 97,900 to 5,525,900 in July.

Over the past three months, Pennsylvania has recovered nearly 48 percent of the total nonfarm jobs lost in March and April, the Department of Labor and Industry said.

Jobs increased in seven of the 11 industry supersectors.

The largest gain was in leisure and hospitality, which saw a 13 percent increase in jobs. A total of 47,100 leisure and hospitality jobs were added in July.

Jobs in both government and information supersectors were up 2 percent. Jobs in the "other services" supersector were up 8 percent.

Data shows unemployment claims continue to slow in the state. For the week ending on March 28 — the start of the pandemic-related statewide nonessential business closures — 374,056 new jobless claims were filed. Data for the end of July shows that 35,808 new claims were filed in the week ending July 25.

The most recent data shows that for the week ending on Aug. 15, 25,584 new claims were filed.

Pennsylvania's unemployment rate has increased by 9.3 percentage points from July 2019, while the national rate was up 6.5 points over the year.

More data and information on unemployment trends in Pennsylvania can be seen here.