Pa. job report shows regional range in unemployment

Jobs have risen by one percent statewide over the last year, but declined in three of the 18 metro areas.

• Katie Meyer
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Katie Meyer was WITF’s Capitol Bureau Chief from 2016-2020. While at WITF, she covered all things state politics for public radio stations throughout Pennsylvania. Katie came to Harrisburg by way of New York City, where she worked at Fordham University’s public radio station, WFUV, as an anchor, general assignment reporter, and co-host of an original podcast. A 2016 graduate of Fordham, she earned several awards for her work at WFUV, including four 2016 Gracies.
  
  Katie is a native New Yorker, though she originally hails from Troy, a little farther up the Hudson River. She can attest that the bagels are still pretty good there.
  
  WITF's Capitol Bureau Chief Desk is partially funded through generous gifts made in the memory of Tony May through the Anthony J. May Memorial Fund.
  
  For more information about Tony May, click here.

 Keith Srakocic / AP Photo

In this March 7, 2019, file photo visitors to the Pittsburgh veterans job fair meet with recruiters at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

(Harrisburg) — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate has been on the decline over the last year–hitting its lowest-recorded level ever in March.

But the picture is a little different when looking at individual areas across the state.

Overall, the commonwealth’s unemployment rate is 3.8 percent.

But rates can range significantly from one metropolitan area to another–from a low of 2.9 percent in Gettysburg and State College, to a high of 4.7 in East Stroudsburg and the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazelton metro.

Jobs have risen by one percent statewide over the last year, but declined in three of the 18 metro areas.

Scranton lost about 400 jobs, the Bloomsburg-Berwick area lost 300, and Williamsport lost 700.

The type of jobs gained were relatively consistent across the state.

The biggest increases have come in professional and business services, education, healthcare, and hospitality.

A recent report from the Independent Fiscal Office noted, many of those jobs tend to be lower-paying.

And while wages are still strong, the IFO also reports they’ve gone up less than expected.