Pennsylvania Jobless Rate Falls To 8% In February

Friday, March 18, 2011

By Ann Belser, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The state unemployment rate dropped to 8 percent in February from January's 8.3 percent rate, the state Department of Labor and Industry reported Thursday.

Pennsylvania also reported there were 30,000 more people working statewide in February than there were in January.

Pennsylvania's unemployment rate is now nearly a full percentage point below the rest of the nation, which logged 8.9 percent unemployment for the month.

Still, the news is actually not good for the long-term unemployed. This week the state announced that unemployment benefits would be reduced from 99 weeks to 93 weeks because, in January, the unemployment rate fell below 8.4 percent and that automatically triggered a reduction in the number of weeks that benefits would be paid.

The January unemployment rate was originally reported at 8.2 percent, but later revised to 8.3 percent. It was the average for November, December and January that triggered the reduction in federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11077/1132749-407.stm