Pennsylvania unemployment rate lowest in nearly 3 years

Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point, down to 4.6% in May, according to figures provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

It’s the lowest unemployment rate in Pennsylvania since Oct. 2019, months before the pandemic began. In contrast, the U.S. unemployment rate was unchanged over last month, remaining at 3.6%.

Leisure and hospitality had the largest 12-month gain, adding 69,000 jobs. Trade, transportation and utilities, information, and professional and business services were above their pre-pandemic job levels in May, the report said.

Risa Kumazawa, an associate professor of economics at Duquesne University’s Palumbo Donahue School of Business said, while not surprising, these numbers are a positive sign for the economy.

“Leisure and hospitality suffered the most (during the pandemic), so we should expect to see the most impact in that industry now that people are out and about. Summer is here, so that’s to be expected that leisure and hospitality added jobs,” she said.

“I would say this unemployment rate reduction is a good thing for now because we’re waiting to see if there’s going to be a second quarter of negative growth that will put us in a recession.”

Compared to May 2021, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 2.1 percentage points lower. Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier said the May jobs report is a credit to the perseverance of the state’s job seekers.

“The jobs report reflects the will of Pennsylvanians to reclaim some of what the pandemic has taken from us, as our unemployment rate continues to fall amidst a national rate that remains unchanged this month,” said Berrier. “The commonwealth continues to see job growth across various industries with some currently above their pre-pandemic level job totals.”

Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – increased 30,000 over the month.

From April 2020 through May 2022, Pennsylvania has recovered approximately 85% of the jobs that were lost in the first two months of the pandemic, according to Labor & Industry.

For her part, however, Kumazawa said she was unsure about whether unemployment numbers would continue to drop in Pennsylvania considering other economic factors such as inflation.

“It depends on what else is going to happen to the economy,” she said. “There are other things happening that don’t make it likely for this to be the case.”