Growth or decline in the total number of people available for work, including currently employed individuals, unemployed individuals, and individuals able to work but not actively seeking work at the time.
The size of the labor force is an indicator of people's willingness and ability to find work. In a period of rapid economic growth, a larger share of the population (including teens, second earners in a family, and elders) will find roles in the workforce. The statistic indicates the health of an economy, particularly when considered along with the unemployment rate, which measures the proportion of the workforce that lacks jobs, but is seeking work.
In 2020, there were 211,500 people in Berks County's labor force a 2.0% decrease from the previous year. Berks County's labor force was larger than in neighboring Lebanon, Lehigh and Schuylkill counties, but smaller than Chester, Lancaster and Montgomery counties.
Between 2000 and 2020, Berks County's labor force grew 8%, an increase larger than Pennsylvania, at 5%, but smaller than the nation at 13%. Three neighboring counties experienced larger gains than Berks did - Chester (18%), Lancaster and Lebanon (both 12%) and Lehigh (17%). Montgomery saw increases in their labor forces that were similar to Berks, while Schuylkill declined 6%.
County-level estimates are based on relatively small samples, and the true number may vary considerably from the estimate. Data for this indicator are released annually in April.
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| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2.3% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1.3% | 1.4% | 1.1% | 0.8% | -0.1% | -0.2% | -0.2% | 0.9% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.8% | 1.3% | 0.7% | 1.1% | 0.9% | -1.7% |
| Pennsylvania | 0.2% | 1.2% | 0.6% | -0.9% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 1.5% | -0.6% | -0.6% | 0.3% | 1.1% | -0.5% | -0.5% | 0.5% | 0.6% | -0.6% | 0.2% | 1.0% | -1.7% |
| Berks County | 4.5% | 0.9% | 0.5% | -2.7% | 1.5% | 1.6% | 1.3% | 0.9% | 1.5% | -1.1% | 2.7% | 0.1% | 0.8% | -0.3% | 0.1% | 0.9% | 0.5% | -0.6% | 0.3% | 1.3% | -2.0% |
| Berks County Regions | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Central | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Northeast | |||||||||||||||||||||
| South | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Southeast | |||||||||||||||||||||
| West | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Reading city | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Berks County Peers | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Chester County | -1.9% | 2.3% | 1.5% | 0.5% | 1.4% | 2.4% | 2.7% | 1.4% | 2.4% | -2.0% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 1.1% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 0.0% | 0.7% | 1.8% | -2.7% |
| Lancaster County | 1.1% | 1.6% | 1.9% | -1.1% | 2.7% | 1.3% | -0.2% | 0.9% | 1.6% | -1.6% | -0.9% | -0.6% | 1.2% | 0.4% | 1.0% | 1.4% | 0.8% | 0.2% | 1.3% | 1.1% | -1.3% |
| Lebanon County | -3.0% | 2.5% | 1.5% | -0.3% | 3.2% | 1.9% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.5% | -0.6% | -4.0% | -0.2% | 1.5% | -0.4% | -0.7% | 0.0% | 0.9% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 1.6% | -0.9% |
| Lehigh County | 2.0% | 1.9% | 0.7% | 0.1% | 0.7% | 1.4% | 2.0% | 0.9% | 1.6% | -0.1% | -1.0% | 1.4% | 1.9% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 1.6% | 1.9% | 0.1% | 0.8% | 1.4% | -1.3% |
| Montgomery County | 0.3% | 2.0% | 0.8% | -0.5% | -0.0% | 0.8% | 1.0% | 0.7% | 1.6% | -2.8% | 1.0% | 0.1% | 1.2% | -0.1% | 0.4% | 1.1% | 1.6% | -0.1% | 0.6% | 1.6% | -2.3% |
| Schuylkill County | 2.1% | -0.1% | -0.2% | -1.0% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 1.4% | 2.8% | 1.0% | -0.6% | -4.7% | -0.8% | 1.3% | -1.2% | -1.5% | -1.0% | -0.8% | -2.1% | -0.1% | 0.7% | -0.7% |
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 142,583,000 | 143,734,000 | 144,863,000 | 146,510,000 | 147,401,000 | 149,320,000 | 151,428,000 | 153,124,000 | 154,287,000 | 154,142,000 | 153,889,000 | 153,617,000 | 154,975,000 | 155,389,000 | 155,922,000 | 157,130,000 | 159,187,000 | 160,320,000 | 162,075,000 | 163,539,000 | 160,742,000 |
| Pennsylvania | 6,105,742 | 6,178,900 | 6,214,539 | 6,157,935 | 6,212,828 | 6,256,642 | 6,297,964 | 6,346,588 | 6,439,786 | 6,400,238 | 6,360,605 | 6,381,749 | 6,449,023 | 6,419,837 | 6,389,059 | 6,423,155 | 6,458,891 | 6,421,994 | 6,432,154 | 6,496,785 | 6,387,869 |
| Berks County | 195,243 | 196,986 | 197,993 | 192,722 | 195,670 | 198,879 | 201,450 | 203,172 | 206,125 | 203,880 | 209,477 | 209,654 | 211,336 | 210,607 | 210,765 | 212,575 | 213,539 | 212,331 | 212,972 | 215,799 | 211,486 |
| Berks County Regions | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Central | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Northeast | |||||||||||||||||||||
| South | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Southeast | |||||||||||||||||||||
| West | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Reading city | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Berks County Peers | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Chester County | 236,560 | 242,022 | 245,764 | 246,928 | 250,457 | 256,501 | 263,433 | 267,246 | 273,712 | 268,170 | 268,854 | 269,597 | 272,533 | 272,790 | 273,533 | 277,098 | 280,798 | 280,801 | 282,820 | 287,955 | 280,096 |
| Lancaster County | 251,341 | 255,443 | 260,217 | 257,311 | 264,382 | 267,780 | 267,175 | 269,648 | 274,034 | 269,588 | 267,223 | 265,492 | 268,700 | 269,656 | 272,259 | 276,028 | 278,301 | 278,795 | 282,318 | 285,560 | 281,736 |
| Lebanon County | 64,347 | 65,931 | 66,925 | 66,730 | 68,882 | 70,170 | 71,182 | 72,139 | 73,229 | 72,774 | 69,857 | 69,709 | 70,778 | 70,521 | 70,051 | 70,081 | 70,694 | 70,694 | 71,256 | 72,430 | 71,763 |
| Lehigh County | 162,991 | 166,069 | 167,177 | 167,294 | 168,546 | 170,903 | 174,288 | 175,900 | 178,632 | 178,417 | 176,593 | 179,081 | 182,454 | 182,642 | 182,897 | 185,867 | 189,319 | 189,581 | 191,107 | 193,827 | 191,388 |
| Montgomery County | 410,015 | 418,294 | 421,803 | 419,628 | 419,536 | 422,901 | 426,991 | 430,147 | 437,181 | 425,141 | 429,193 | 429,511 | 434,777 | 434,320 | 436,057 | 440,959 | 448,108 | 447,870 | 450,466 | 457,478 | 446,961 |
| Schuylkill County | 70,196 | 70,147 | 70,012 | 69,324 | 69,951 | 70,641 | 71,626 | 73,652 | 74,363 | 73,915 | 70,418 | 69,888 | 70,802 | 69,954 | 68,912 | 68,229 | 67,661 | 66,241 | 66,142 | 66,610 | 66,129 |
| INDICATORS | TREND | BERKS COUNTY |
|---|---|
| Unemployment Rate |  Increasing |
| Change in Labor Force |  Decreasing |
| Employment to Population ratio | Decreasing |
| Change in Jobs by Sector | Not Applicable |
| Sector Share of Total Jobs | Not Applicable |
| Average Salary by Sector | Not Applicable |
| Change in Average Salary by Sector | Not Applicable |
| People Entering/Leaving County/Region for Work | Not Applicable |
| Public Assistance |  Maintaining |
| Spending for Local Governments | Maintaining |
| Spending for Counties | Maintaining |
| Spending for School Districts | Maintaining |
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