The Pittsburgh region’s jobless rate jumped to 16.8% in April, with 200,400 people unemployed in the seven-country region as pandemic-related shutdowns gripped the economy.
The combined unemployment rate for Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties was the highest since January 1983, the state’s Center for Workforce Information and Analysis said Tuesday. The previous high jobless rate of 17.1% was set when Western Pennsylvania’s steel industry was collapsing, sending hundreds of thousands of workers to the unemployment line.
The unemployment rate, adjusted for seasonal hiring factors, rose from 5.9% in March when 71,200 were out of work, the state said. By comparison, when the economy was strong in April 2019, the unemployment rate had fallen to 4.1%.
The region lost 201,000 non-farm jobs from March to April, as Gov. Tom Wolf ordered businesses deemed nonessential to shut down in mid-March.
Statewide, unemployment jumped to 15.1% in April from 5.8% in March.
Among the region’s seven counties, Allegheny County had a 15.9% unemployment rate in April with 100,000 people out of work and Westmoreland County’s rate stood at 17.8% with 32,100 workers searching for a job.
