Pennsylvania’s jobless rate soared to a record 15.1% in April as the full impact of the covid-19 shutdowns slammed the state’s economy, the state said Friday.
The state counted 976,000 workers out of a job last month, an increase of almost 600,000 from March when the unemployment rate was 4.1%, according to the state’s Center for Workforce Information and Analysis.
The state’s unemployment rate, based on data since 1976, surpassed levels seen in the first two months of 1983 when the steel industry collapsed. The rate back then hit 12.7%.
Gov. Tom Wolf ordered businesses that his administration deemed nonessential to close in mid-March in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Continuing unemployment claims in the state hit 3.8 million in April, including 390,000 in Allegheny County and 175,000 in Westmoreland and Fayette counties. The continuing claims are a cumulative total of workers filing the weekly claims.
State Labor and Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak did not predict whether the jobless rate might drop in May because many businesses have reopened under Wolf’s phased plan to loosen coronavirus-related restrictions.
“It’s hard to predict if the unemployment rate will go down,” Oleksiak said.
The jobless rate for the seven-county Pittsburgh region will not be announced until June 2.
