New Penn State COVID-19 Report on Essential Work

The Penn State Institute of State and Regional Affairs (ISRA) released today the second installment of the COVID-19 Report Series: Employment Risk, quantifying the extent of establishments and employment effected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of non-essential businesses.

The report uses current definitions for essential businesses paired with data on establishments, employment, and unemployment claims to assess the economic impact of the pandemic in Pennsylvania.

The key findings include:

  • At least 1.2 million employees worked in industries impacted by business establishment closures.
  • Over the four-week period from March 21 through April 4, nearly 1.7 million unemployment claims were filed.

Click here to read the latest report from ISRA’s COVID-19 Report Series for additional details on trends at the sector and county levels.