Pennsylvania's Unemployment Rate Hasn't Been This Low Since January 2009

Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate is at its lowest since January 2009.

Fewer than 7 percent of the state’s workforce is unemployed, new numbers from the Department of Labor and Industry show. The numbers released Friday show that the state’s unemployment rate for Decemeber 2013 was 6.9 percent,The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The nationwide unemployment rate for December 2013 was slightly better than Pennsylvania’s, at 6.7 percent.

The state’s unemployment rate was as high as 8.2 percent back in January 2013, The Inquirer said.

The numbers released Friday also show that the state’s labor force has shrunk, by more than 109,000 people, The Inquirer said. 

The Inquirer said that it was that decline that actually brought down the unemployment rate, though it said it was unclear why the state’s workforce had gotten so much smaller.