Department of Numbers

Reading, Pennsylvania Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Reading fell 0.9 percentage points in November 2020 to 6.2%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.4 percentage points lower than the Pennsylvania rate. The unemployment rate in Reading peaked in April 2020 at 17.2% and is now 11.0 percentage points lower. You can also compare Reading 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
Reading 6.2% -0.9 +1.5
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: Reading, Pennsylvania, National

Reading, Pennsylvania monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Reading, Pennsylvania Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Reading peaked in April 2020 at 38,390. There are now 24,628 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Reading employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Reading, Pennsylvania) is also available.

Unemployed Persons November 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
Reading 13,762 -2,163 +3,397

Number of Unemployed Persons

Reading, Pennsylvania Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 Pennsylvania
Unemployment Rate		 Reading
Unemployment Rate		 Reading
Unemployed
December
2020		 6.7% — — —
November
2020		 6.7% 6.6% 6.2% 13,762
October
2020		 6.9% 7.4% 7.1% 15,925
September
2020		 7.8% 8.3% 8.0% 18,033
August
2020		 8.4% 10.4% 10.3% 22,653
July
2020		 10.2% 12.5% 12.0% 26,811
June
2020		 11.1% 13.2% 13.0% 28,862
May
2020		 13.3% 13.4% 13.7% 31,260
April
2020		 14.8% 16.1% 17.2% 38,390
March
2020		 4.4% 5.8% 5.6% 12,174
February
2020		 3.5% 4.7% 4.6% 10,110
January
2020		 3.5% 4.7% 4.7% 10,147

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. ↩

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