PA’s unemployment rate at 7.3 percent in January, slight increase from December

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) released its employment situation report for January 2021, with a slight increase over the unemployment rate for December.

Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points over the month to 7.3 percent in January. The U.S. rate fell four-tenths of a percentage point from December to 6.3 percent. The commonwealth’s unemployment rate was 2.5 percentage points above its January 2020 level while the national rate was up 2.8 points over the year.

Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – decreased 15,000 over the month.

Pennsylvania’s total nonfarm jobs were up 35,700 over the month to 5,638,100 in January, essentially reversing December’s drop of 35,400. Jobs increased in 4 of the 11 industry supersectors with the largest volume gain in professional & business services (+12,100).

Additional information is available on the L&I website at www.dli.pa.gov or by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Notes: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison.

Because the data included in each month’s press release (primarily civilian labor force and nonfarm jobs data) are sample based, the data are subject to revisions. Once each year, estimates are adjusted to new levels based on additional or revised information collected after the initial release of the data (called a benchmark). Additionally, seasonal adjustment factors for historical labor force and nonfarm jobs data are updated each year. Revisions to the statewide labor force and nonfarm jobs series through 2020 have been completed and are reflected in this January news release. For a complete set of benchmarked data, visit www.workstats.dli.pa.gov.