Department of Numbers

Altoona, Pennsylvania Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Altoona fell 0.7 percentage points in November 2020 to 5.9%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.7 percentage points lower than the Pennsylvania rate. The unemployment rate in Altoona peaked in April 2020 at 17.4% and is now 11.5 percentage points lower. You can also compare Altoona unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate November 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
National 6.7% -0.2 +3.1
Pennsylvania 6.6% -0.8 +2.0
Altoona 5.9% -0.7 +0.8
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with November 2020 data as December metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Altoona, Pennsylvania, National

Altoona, Pennsylvania monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Altoona, Pennsylvania Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Altoona peaked in April 2020 at 10,761. There are now 7,368 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Altoona employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Altoona, Pennsylvania) is also available.

Unemployed Persons November 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
Altoona 3,393 -408 +349

Number of Unemployed Persons

Altoona, Pennsylvania Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 Pennsylvania
Unemployment Rate		 Altoona
Unemployment Rate		 Altoona
Unemployed
December
2020		 6.7% — — —
November
2020		 6.7% 6.6% 5.9% 3,393
October
2020		 6.9% 7.4% 6.6% 3,801
September
2020		 7.8% 8.3% 7.3% 4,265
August
2020		 8.4% 10.4% 9.6% 5,426
July
2020		 10.2% 12.5% 11.8% 6,832
June
2020		 11.1% 13.2% 11.8% 6,845
May
2020		 13.3% 13.4% 13.5% 8,177
April
2020		 14.8% 16.1% 17.4% 10,761
March
2020		 4.4% 5.8% 5.8% 3,481
February
2020		 3.5% 4.7% 4.8% 2,907
January
2020		 3.5% 4.7% 4.9% 2,945

1. Metro area unemployment rates are now seasonally adjusted. The BLS has started publishing smoothed seasonally adjusted metropolitan area data which makes comparisons to state and national data more relevant than the unadjusted numbers. ↩

Data on deptofnumbers.com is for informational purposes only. No warranty or guarantee of accuracy is offered or implied. Contact ben@deptofnumbers.com (or @deptofnumbers on Twitter) if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. Privacy policy.