Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate fell one-tenth of a percentage point in January to 5.4 %, the lowest since March 2020, according to figures released by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

It’s the 21st consecutive month without an unemployment rate increase. The commonwealth’s unemployment rate was 2.1 percentage points below its January 2021 level.

In contrast the U.S. unemployment rate rose a tenth of a percentage point to 4.0 in January.

“In January, both the residential and employers survey showed a positive change,” said Department of Labor & Industry spokesman Alex Peterson. “Though these changes were fairly mild, they continue the trend of recovery that Pennsylvania has seen since the recession ended in April 2020.”

Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force — the estimated number of residents, working or looking for work — increased 4,000 over the month. The unemployment count rose 13,000, to 6,030,000, while resident unemployment declined 9,000, to 341,000.

Over the year, total nonfarm jobs were up 216,300. Leisure and hospitality had the largest 12-month gain, adding back 84,000 jobs.

“It’s quite clear that (the easing of) covid has something to do with that,” said Risa Kumazawa, associate professor of economics at Duquesne University. “People are out and about, which means that there’s going to be higher demand to fill these positions. And then also I think people are looking at the covid numbers and those who are on the fence are coming back.”

From April 2020 through January 2022, Pennsylvania has recovered 79% of jobs lost because of the pandemic.

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