State Unemployment Rates Sees Big Drop In August

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) –  Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate took a steep drop in August, as the labor force shrank and payrolls shot up again in a continuing rebound from the pandemic. The state Department of Labor and Industry said Friday that Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 10.3% in August, down 2.2 percentage points from July’s adjusted rate of 12.5%. It had initially estimated July’s rate at 13.7% in July. The national rate was 8.4% in August. Payrolls gained back almost 60,000 of the more than 1.1 million jobs lost since March. Pennsylvania has now regained slightly more than half the jobs lost in the last six months, according to state figures.