WILKES-BARRE — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was down 0.8 percentage points over the month to 6.6 percent in November — falling below the U.S. rate of 6.7 percent in November for the first time since May 2015.
The commonwealth’s unemployment rate was 2.0 percentage points above its November 2019 level while the national rate was up 3.2 points over the year.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Friday released its employment situation report for November 2020.
Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force — the estimated number of residents working or looking for work — decreased 40,000 over the month as unemployment declined 55,000, while resident employment was up 15,000.
Pennsylvania’s total non-farm jobs were up 21,000 over the month to 5,637,600 in November — the seventh consecutive monthly gain.
Jobs increased in 7 of the 11 industry super-sectors. The largest volume gain was in trade, transportation, and utilities, up 10,000 jobs.
Over the past seven months, Pennsylvania has recovered 57.7% of the total non-farm jobs lost in March and April.
Over the year, total non-farm jobs in Pennsylvania were down 452,600 (-7.4%) with declines in each of the 11 super-sectors. The largest 12-month change among super-sectors was a decline of 139,000 jobs in leisure & hospitality.
Additional information is available on the L&I website at — www.dli.pa.gov — or by following L&I on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison.