WILKES-BARRE — Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force — the estimated number of residents working or looking for work — increased 35,000 over the month due mostly to a gain in employment of 30,000.
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was unchanged over the month, remaining at 7.3 percent in February.
The U.S. rate declined one-tenth of a percentage point from January to 6.2 percent.
The commonwealth’s unemployment rate was 2.3 percentage points above its February 2020, level while the national rate was up 2.7 points over the year.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) on Friday released its employment situation report for February 2021.
Pennsylvania’s total non-farm jobs were up 16,600 over the month to 5,656,700 in February, the ninth gain in the past 10 months.
Jobs increased in 8 of the 11 industry super-sectors, with the largest volume gain in leisure & hospitality (+12,800).
Additional information is available on the L&I website at — www.dli.pa.gov — or by following on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison.