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PA unemployment rate hits 4.3%, highest this year
Ioannis Pashakis//December 20, 2019
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was the highest it has been all year in November after hitting a record low in April.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry reported this week that the state had an unemployment rate of 4.3% after hiring 18,000 Pennsylvanians last month.
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate remains higher than the national rate, which was down by one-tenth of a percentage to 3.5% last month.
November’s unemployment rate in Pennsylvania was one-tenth of a percentage higher than October’s 4.2%. The rate is the highest the state has seen this year after having a string of months with the lowest rate in years.
The state’s unemployment rate began at 4.1% in January but dropped to 3.9% in March, marking the first time that the state hit such a low since 1976. From April to June, the rate stayed at 3.8% before growing back over the 4% threshold in September.
Over the year, employers in the state hired an additional 48,400 people compared to the same time last year. Pennsylvania currently has a record high 6 million people in the workforce.
