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WILKES-BARRE — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was down 2.2 percentage points over the month to 10.3 percent in August and the national rate fell 1.8 percentage points from July’s level to 8.4 percent.
Over the past four months, Pennsylvania has recovered 52.4% of the total non-farm jobs lost in March and April.
The commonwealth’s unemployment rate increased by 5.8 percentage points from August 2019, while the national rate was up 4.7 points over the year.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Friday released its employment situation report for August 2020.
Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – was down 59,000 over the month as the unemployment count fell by 144,000 while employment increased 86,000.
Pennsylvania’s total non-farm jobs were up 59,500 over the month to 5,577,900 in August.
Jobs increased in 9 of the 11 industry super-sectors.
The largest volume gain was in trade, transportation & utilities, up 19,600 jobs from July.
Over the year, total non-farm jobs in Pennsylvania were down 499,600 with declines in 10 of the 11 super-sectors.
The largest 12-month change among super-sectors was a decline of 163,000 jobs in leisure & hospitality.
Additional information is available on the L&I website at www.dli.pa.gov or by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison.
Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.