Pa.’s unemployment rate fell to 6.9 percent in June, still above national rate

By: Cassie Miller - July 16, 2021 1:38 pm

Dropping for the fourth consecutive month, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate fell to 6.9 percent in June, down one-tenth of a percentage point from May, according to new state Labor & Industry data..

The new data, which the agency released on Friday, showed that the commonwealth’s unemployment rate was down 6.4 percentage points from June 2020 when the unemployment rate was 13.3 percent in Pennsylvania.

Nationally, the unemployment rate rose by a tenth of a percentage point to 5.9 percent compared to 11.1 percent last June.

Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate is a percentage point higher than the current national rate.

The department reported that of Pennsylvania’s 11 job supersectors, the major industry sectors tracked by the department, five saw the number of jobs in the supersector increase. Leisure & hospitality had the largest 12-month gain, adding back 126,000 jobs.

Despite the gains, all supersectors remained below their February 2020 job levels as of the June report.

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Cassie Miller

A native Pennsylvanian, Cassie Miller worked for various publications across the Midstate before joining the team at the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. In her previous roles, she has covered everything from local sports to the financial services industry.