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Pennsylvania Jobless Rate Hits 15.1%, State Labor Department Says

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS/AP) — Pennsylvania's unemployment rate skyrocketed in April at the height of the state's pandemic-driven shutdown to its highest rate in over four decades of record-keeping, the state Department of Labor and Industry said Friday. Meanwhile, payrolls fell by more than 1 million.

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Pennsylvania's unemployment rate more than doubled to 15.1% in April, up from 5.8% in March, the department said.

The national rate was 14.7% in April.

Pennsylvania's highest unemployment rate was 12.7% in 1983, according to online federal data that keeps track back to 1976.

A separate survey of employers showed seasonally adjusted non-farm payrolls fell by more than 1 million in April to just above 5 million.

Meanwhile, there are over 65,000 COVID-19 cases statewide, while the death toll nears 4,900.

(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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