Pennsylvania’s Unemployment Rate At 6.0 Percent in March

HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) on Friday released its employment data for March 2020. The March unemployment and jobs surveys collected data that referenced the week from March 8 – 14 before many coronavirus (COVID-19) – related business and school closures occurred in the second half of the month.
 
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was up 1.3 percentage points over the previous month to 6.0 percent in March. The national rate rose nine-tenths of a point to 4.4 percent. The commonwealth’s unemployment rate increased by 1.9 percentage points from March 2019, while the national rate was up six-tenths of a percentage point over the year. 

Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – declined by 19,000 over the month from February’s record high level. Resident employment was down 104,000 while unemployment rose by 85,000.  

Pennsylvania’s total nonfarm jobs were down 40,400 from February’s record high to 6,069,200 in March. Jobs were down in 10 of the 11 industry super-sectors. The largest volume super-sector decline was in leisure and hospitality which fell from a record high level in February. 

Over the year, total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 14,500 with gains in six of the 11 super-sectors. The largest volume 12-month change among super-sectors was an increase of 12,800 jobs in education and health services.
  
(Editor’s Note: The March unemployment and jobs surveys reflect the early effects of COVID-19 and mitigation efforts to contain it. 

The high volume of UC claims activity resulting from COVID-19 mitigation efforts had minimal impact on March’s unemployment figures due to the fact the key week (March 8 to March 14) referenced by the unemployment figures preceded the initial spike in COVID-19 related UC Claims that occurred during the week ending March 2).