State jobless rate holds as jobs increase
After two consecutive monthly increases, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate held steady.
The Keystone State’s jobless figure for February was 7.3%, the same as in January, the state Department of Labor & Industry said Friday in its monthly employment situation report.
The February 2020 rate, by contrast, was 5.0% – 2.3 points lower, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic started to have an impact.
Last month’s rate was promising news, but not as good as the addition of 30,000 jobs during the shortest month on the calendar. The civilian labor force – estimated number of Pennsylvanians working or looking for work – grew by 35,000.
Non-farm jobs increased by 16,600 over the month, to 5,656,700. That, according to L&I, was the ninth gain in the past 10 months.
Jobs did increase in eight of the 11 industry supersectors, with the largest gain (12,800) posted in leisure and hospitality.
The national rate in February dipped by one-tenth of a percentage point over the month to 6.2%. That figure is 2.8 points higher than it was a year earlier.
L&I’s figures are seasonally adjusted, providing the most valid month-to-month comparison.