PA’s unemployment rate down to 6.4 percent in August

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) released its employment situation report for August 2021.

Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was down one-tenth of a percentage point over the month to 6.4 percent in August. July’s rate was revised down one-tenth to 6.5 percent. The U.S. rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point from July’s level to 5.2 percent. The commonwealth’s unemployment rate was 3.8 percentage points below its August 2020 level and the national rate was down 3.2 points over the year.

Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – decreased 7,000 over the month in large part due to a drop of 6,000 in unemployment which fell for the sixth consecutive month.

Pennsylvania’s total nonfarm jobs were up 5,100 over the month to 5,743,000 in August. Jobs increased in 8 of the 11 industry supersectors. The largest movement was a drop of 8,800 leisure & hospitality jobs, while the largest gain was tied between professional & business services and other services, each up 3,200. Over the year, total nonfarm jobs were up 191,100 with gains in 10 of the 11 supersectors. Leisure & hospitality had the largest 12-month gain, adding back 66,700 jobs. All supersectors remained below their February 2020 job levels as of August 2021.

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.

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Editor’s Note: A breakdown of Pennsylvania’s employment statistics follows.

Current Labor Force Statistics
Seasonally Adjusted
(in thousands)