Pennsylvania jobless rate drops in August, lowest since March

Pennsylvania’s economy continued to improve in August as the state regained slightly more than half of the jobs it lost since the pandemic-related economic shutdowns of March and April, with the jobless rate falling 2.2 percentage points from July to 10.3%.

The unemployment rate for August is the lowest rate since the March jobless rate of 5.8%, as adjusted for seasonal hiring factors, but much higher than the 4.5% in August 2019. The state’s economy added about 60,000 jobs in August to 5.7 million, but that is about 500,000 fewer jobs than in August 2019, according to the state’s Center for Workforce Information and Analysis.

“There’s a slight improvement in the jobs market, but it has a long way to go,” said Frank Gamrat, an economist and executive director of the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, a conservative think tank based in Castle Shannon.

The state had 650,000 unemployed workers in August, but that was 144,000 fewer jobless than in July.

“We expect to see the economy climbing back,” since the spring because restrictions on economic activity have been loosened, Gamrat said.

Employment rose to 5.6 million workers, up about 86,000. Gamrat believes part of the motivation for the rise in employment was the fact that the $600-a-week unemployment benefits from the federal government ended in July.

One of the sobering parts of the jobs report was that about 60,000 people dropped out of the labor force in August, lowering the total to 6.3 million.

The leisure and hospitality industry, however, continues to suffer, Gamrat said, as limited seating for indoor dining remained in effect last month. That sector of the economy added just 3,300 jobs in August, but has 163,000 fewer jobs than a year ago.

“That industry is really suffering,” Gamrat said.

With the state jobless rate dropping, Chris Briem, a regional economist with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Social and Urban Research, said he believes the August jobless rate for the seven-county Pittsburgh region will drop slightly when the information is released on Sept. 29. The region had a ate of 14.3% in July.

Unemployment claims for the Pittsburgh region have really decreased, Briem said.

There was just a slight increase in nonfarm jobs in August, up 6,400 to 1.09 million. That puts the region back above the lows reached in the the region during or just after the Great Recession between 2007 and 2009, Briem said. The region’s low point for jobs then was February 2010 at 1.08 million, he noted.