Pennsylvania has released the preliminary unemployment figures for the month of February, and those statistics are the lowest since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The state’s Labor and Industry department reported that February’s unemployment rate went down three-tenths of a percentage point to 5.1 percent in February, marking the 22nd consecutive month without an increase. It also marks a decrease of 2.2 percentage points from February of 2021. From April of 2020 through February of this year, Pennsylvania has recovered about 82 percent of the jobs lost due to the pandemic.
The statewide civilian labor force went down by 1,000 over the month. While the employment count went up by 12,000 to 6,042,000, resident unemployment went down 13,000 to 328,000. The total number of non-farm jobs went up 34,400 over the month to 5,890,800. Jobs increased in eight of the 11 industry super sectors, with the largest share of the monthly gain seen in the trade, transportation and utilities group. That sector saw an increase of 19,200.
Indiana County’s statistics are expected to come in later this month.
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