Keystone Today

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry has announced that the unemployment rate is continuing to fall, but it is still higher than the national unemployment rate.

The state’s unemployment rate dropped in October by two-tenths of a percentage point, from 6.2% the previous month to 6% in October, while the national rate was 4.6%, according to the Official Pennsylvania Government Website.

The unemployment percentage in October of this year was one full percentage point lower than the previous year.

“Pennsylvania's total nonfarm jobs increased by 19,100 over the month to 5,760,800 in October, the sixth consecutive gain,” the Official Pennsylvania Government Website said. “The number of jobs increased from September in seven of the 11 industry super sectors. The largest movement was an increase of 8,600 leisure and hospitality jobs. Over the year, total nonfarm jobs were up 134,700 with gains in nine of the 11 super sectors. Leisure and hospitality had the largest 12-month gain, adding back 47,300 jobs. All super sectors remained below their February 2020 job levels, as of October 2021.” 

Still, some wonder why the state is lagging behind the national numbers. One possible factor is that the Quaker State kept pandemic-related federal unemployment bonuses in place longer, which critics of the federal policy say detracts from a person's incentive to find work, thus slowing the state's employment recovery.

Several states have taken a different path and have reported better employment numbers than Pennsylvania.

Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Ohio, for example, are experiencing an employment boom. Although not all of those states have beaten the national average, they are all posting better jobless rates than Pennsylvania. 

According to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, the state’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.6% in October, which is on par with the national average.

Georgia recently announced that they have seen the lowest unemployment rates on record with the October unemployment rate coming in at 3.1%, according to the Office of Gov. Brian Kemp (R).

Ohio also saw a drop in unemployment rate of 0.2 percentage points, from 5.3% in September to 5.1% in October, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

South Carolina most recently reported a monthly unemployment rate of 3.9%, almost hitting pre-pandemic levels, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Next Advisor reports that Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Ohio all canceled federal unemployment insurance bonuses near the end of June, while Pennsylvania is one of 25 states that chose to keep the benefits going until September, when they expired.