The state's jobless numbers dropped 3 percentage points in May, showing the beginning of an economic recovery following a state-mandated coronavirus shutdown.

In the week ending May 16, the state's unemployment rate was 13.1 percent, as 211,000 Pennsylvanians in the workforce gained or regained employment.

Only two industry supersectors — information and government — saw continued job dips. Construction saw the largest growth — its employment jumped almost 50 percent — while leisure and hospitality came in second place, with a job growth of 16.3 percent.

While the data was not specific to Butler County — metropolitan statistical area-specific data is released June 30 — the Department of Labor and Industry's tracker of unemployment compensation claims gives some perspective on the county.

At the beginning of May, there were more than 20,000 initial and continued jobless claims from workers in the county. By the week ending May 16, the same week in which unemployment data is collated, the county saw fewer than 16,000 claims. For the week ending June 13, there were roughly 12,500 claims, a plurality of which were in the accommodation and food services industry sector.

In a typical week, there are roughly 2,500 jobless insurance claims in the county.

As with much of the labor data released during the COVID-19 crisis, this new data is skewed as a result of being more than a month old.

By May 16, 24 of the state's 67 counties had been in Gov. Tom Wolf's “yellow” phase of reopening, with Butler and the surrounding region having entered the yellow phase May 15. None of the county had entered the “green” phase, which nearly all of the state now is in.