Pennsylvania Job Market Healthy but Slowing, With Widening Racial and Gender Wage Gaps

NewsData.io · United States · Sep 3, 2026

A new report from the Keystone Research Center finds Pennsylvania's unemployment rate dropped to 3.9% in July — its lowest in nearly two years — but hiring growth has slowed and racial disparities have widened significantly, with Black residents at 6.5% unemployment and Hispanics at 8.7%. Wages continue to outpace inflation but have not closed demographic wage gaps. The report also flagged data center construction as a potential source of multiyear skilled-trades employment, though it cautioned that infrastructure demands warrant careful evaluation before approvals.