The local economy of Pennsylvania and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data.
Unemployment rate
3.7%
August 2026, 4.4% a year ago
Average weekly pay
$1,550
Q1 2026, 6,002,061 jobs
New homes permitted
25,848
Last 12 months to August 2026
Net people moving in
-15,939
2022 to 2023
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for its history.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for Pennsylvania, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for Pennsylvania is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row.
The unemployment rate in Pennsylvania was 3.7% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 4.4% a year earlier. 6,409,441 people were employed out of a labor force of 6,659,135. Among its counties, Centre County had the lowest rate (3.0%) and Cameron County the highest (5.8%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in Pennsylvania was $1,550 in Q1 2026, up 3.3% from a year earlier, across 6,002,061 jobs at 394,057 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 2,210 new homes in Pennsylvania in August 2026 (1,119 single-family and 974 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 17,259, up 2.1% from the same months last year, and 25,848 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Philadelphia County (4,668), Allegheny County (3,232), Montgomery County (2,058) over the last 12 months.
No, more people moved out than in. From 2022 to 2023, 203,138 people moved to Pennsylvania and 219,077 moved away, a net loss of 15,939 (-1.5 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from New York, New Jersey, Florida, and most people who left went to Florida, New Jersey, New York.
The weekly survey does not publish a separate price for Pennsylvania. In its region, Central Atlantic, regular gasoline averaged $4.41 per gallon in the week of September 28, 2026.