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September 2026

Quarterly Labor Market Report P h i l a d e l p h i a

2 0 2 6 / Q 2

Contents 01 Summary The latest Philadelphia’s labor market information

03 Labor Force Trend The most recent data available on Philadelphia’s employment and unemployment

13 Demand & Wages The latest job postings, wage growth and inflation

21 Socioeconomic Analysis Demographics and geospatial disparity

26 Appendix Detailed Occupation Tables

The document Fueling Philadelphia’s Talent Engine calls on Philadelphia Works, Inc. to serve as the city’s hub for labor market and economic reporting and analysis.

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Continued economic growth is critical to the future of our city and region, and is dependent upon a strong, skilled workforce. ——Fueling Philadelphia’s Talent Engine

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Summary

Using the latest available data, this quarterly update offers insight into Philadelphia’s labor market, industry mix, and economic development. For more insight into Philadelphia’s labor force, economic characteristics, and employment dynamics, please visit the Philadelphia Works website.

Philadelphia's labor market improved in the second quarter of 2026. The city's unemployment rate averaged 4.9% across April, May, and June, down from 5.3% in the first quarter and 1.1 percentage points below a year earlier.

The labor force grew by 12,822 workers over the year to 802,479, and quarterly employment rose by 10,922 from the first quarter. Employers posted 49,244 unique jobs over the quarter, up from 45,920 in the first quarter. In the second quarter, 13,922 Philadelphians filed new unemployment claims, 20.7% more than a year earlier, and layoffs and terminations accounted for about seven in ten of them.

Total nonfarm employment in the Philadelphia MSA stood at 3,127,900 in June 2026, down 6,300 over the month and 3,500 over the year. Philadelphia-area private wages rose 3.1% over the year to June, above the 2.7% national pace after trailing it for 53 straight months. Local inflation reached 5.4%, 1.9 percentage points above the national 3.5%, so real wages fell 2.3% and have been negative in all 26 months tracked since 2022.

Labor Force Trend

Past and Present

Quarterly Comparison

In 2026 Q2, Philadelphia's labor force averaged 802,479 residents per month, with 763,335 employed and 39,144 unemployed. Compared with 2026 Q1, the labor force expanded by 8,105 workers while employment grew by 10,922, so the number of unemployed fell and the quarterly unemployment rate dropped from 5.3% to 4.9%. The gap between the two lines on the dumbbell chart is the city's unemployment. After widening in the first quarter, that gap narrowed in the second quarter as employment growth outpaced labor-force growth. Part of the change is seasonal, since spring brings construction and hospitality rehiring after the winter slowdown. The lower rate arrived alongside a rise in new unemployment claims over the same months, so the quarter pairs a smaller stock of unemployed residents with a larger flow of workers into the benefits system.

Source: Philadelphia Works Analysis of Data From BLS, LAUS

I n

J u n e

2 0 2 6

Total Labor Force

803,039 Total Employment

763,859 Unemployment Rate

Source: Philadelphia Works Analysis of Data From BLS, LAUS

7 5

Employment & Unemployment Philadelphia's unemployment rate remains above the state and national rates. At 4.9% in June 2026, the city's rate sits 0.5 percentage points above the national rate of 4.4% and 1.0 point above Pennsylvania's 3.9%. The gap to the national rate was 0.7 points in March. Since 2023, Philadelphia's rate has ranged from 3.7% to 6.4% and has not fallen below Pennsylvania's or the national rate in any month. The gap is narrowest when the national labor market weakens, which pulls the US rate up toward Philadelphia's, and widest when it strengthens. National unemployment has drifted up to 4.4% in a low-hire, low-fire market. The differential that remains reflects long-standing gaps in education, skills, and neighborhood opportunity rather than the business cycle.

June brought small declines across every major sector. Education and Health Services and Leisure and Hospitality each lost 1,200 jobs over the month, Transportation and Utilities lost 1,100, and Professional and Business Services lost 1,000, adding up to a 6,300 decline in total nonfarm employment. Year over year, Leisure and Hospitality is the main source of growth, adding 19,300 jobs, followed by Finance and Insurance (+3,200) and Manufacturing (+2,200). Transportation and Utilities lost 5,400, Education and Health Services lost 4,900, Retail lost 2,000, and Information lost 1,300, leaving total nonfarm employment 3,500 below June 2025.

The Philadelphia MSA, officially the Philadelphia-CamdenWilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, is a large metropolitan region in the Northeastern US centered on Philadelphia. It encompasses counties in Pennsylvania (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia), New Jersey (Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem), Delaware (New Castle), and Maryland (Cecil).

Over the two years from June 2024 to June 2026, eleven of seventeen peer metros added jobs. Washington, DC led at +3.95%, followed by Phoenix (+2.92%) and Denver (+2.66%). Philadelphia's employment fell 1.47%, ranking 17th of 17, behind Atlanta (1.40%), Houston (-1.17%), and Pittsburgh (-1.13%). The two-year comparison places Philadelphia at the bottom of the group. The six metros with declines are in the Northeast, the Midwest, and the South, while western metros and the capital region posted the largest gains.

Source: Philadelphia Works Analysis of Data From BLS, CES

Total Unemployment Claims in 2026 Q2:

13,922

Philadelphia's unemployment claims are a neighborhood phenomenon, not a citywide one. They are concentrated in Southwest Philadelphia (19143, the quarter's highest at 807 claims), the Lower Northeast and Frankford corridor (19124, 688 claims), and North Philadelphia (19140, 647 claims), extending across West and North Philadelphia. 9

Unemployment Claims Philadelphia's unemployment rate fell over the past year, but the flow of new claimants rose. The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Workforce Development System recorded 13,922 unique new claimants in the second quarter of 2026, a 20.7% increase over the same months of 2025 and slightly more than the 13,778 recorded in the first quarter. LAUS data is a snapshot of labor-force status in a reference week, while UC claims measure the flow of newly separated workers into the benefits system. A falling unemployment rate alongside a rising claim count means separated workers are finding new jobs quickly enough to keep the stock of unemployed from growing, but churn is building beneath the headline rate. The distance between the two measures is the quarter's most important signal.

Source: Philadelphia Works Analysis of Data From PA CWDS

The breakdown of reasons for separation is unambiguous. Layoffs accounted for 41.6% of secondquarter claims, and terminations, firings, or suspensions added another 29.9%. Together, employer-initiated separations make up about seven in ten new claims. Part-time or reduced hours accounted for 16.1%, while voluntary resignations were a small minority. Most claimants did not leave for something better. They were let go.

When reasons are broken out by gender, the pattern holds for both groups with different proportions. Layoffs make up 43.8% of men's claims and 40.2% of women's, and terminations account for 33.4% of men's claims and 27.1% of women's. Women are more likely to file after a cut in hours, at 18.8% compared with 12.7% for men, and slightly more likely to have resigned or taken leave, at 11.5% compared with 8.1%.

The employers with the newest claims are large institutional employers and their contractors. Aramark Campus accounted for 332 claims, followed by Universal Protection Service (139), the School District of Philadelphia (135), and the City of Philadelphia (127). Several run on the academic calendar, which ends in June. The occupations behind the most claims are concentrated in low-wage service work. Security guards filed 310 claims, followed by food preparation workers (175), cashiers (174), and janitors and cleaners (166). Median hourly wages for the top ten run from $16 to $23. These workers need fast, practical support such as benefits enrollment assistance, same-day job matching, and short-cycle credentials such as CDL, security, and CNA training.

Demand & Wages

Trends in Job Postings

Job Postings Trend According to Lightcast, employers posted 49,244 unique jobs in Philadelphia during 2026 Q2, up 7.2% from 45,920 in the first quarter. The chart tracks monthly postings that list an advertised salary, which run at roughly 7,000 to 8,000 a month. After falling 10% in February and recovering 18% in March, postings edged up 2% in April to 7,316, rose 9% in May to 7,941, the highest month of the year so far, and slipped 5% in June to 7,525. Demand for workers held up through the spring, though it stays concentrated in a narrow set of employers and industries.

Source: Philadelphia Works Analysis of Data From Lightcast Data

Philadelphia's top-posting employers cluster in education and health care. The University of Pennsylvania posted 11,672 jobs over the quarter, 41.3% of the top-ten total, with Penn Medicine adding 3,849. Thomas Jefferson University (1,941), Temple University Health System (1,696), and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (1,475) fill out the eds-and-meds group. The third-largest poster, the security firm Allied Universal (2,058), points to the other side of the local labor market, high-volume demand for lowwage, high-turnover roles. Comcast (1,657) and the School District of Philadelphia (1,627) are the only other employers above 1,500.

Source: Philadelphia Works Analysis of Data From Lightcast Data

At the industry level, the same divide is sharper. Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools led all industries with 14,958 postings, 32.7% of the topten total. The next entry is a staffing intermediary. Employment Placement Agencies posted 8,102 jobs and Temporary Help Services another 2,480.

Together, staffing firms posted 10,582 jobs, about seven in ten of the university total. A large portion of Philadelphia's highest-volume listings are posted by agencies placing workers at other firms rather than by the firms doing the hiring, which shows how much of the local job market runs through contingent and temp-to-hire channels. Health care fills the middle of the list, with ambulatory surgical centers (3,938), general hospitals (3,229), and physicians' offices (2,486).

Source: Philadelphia Works Analysis of Data From Lightcast Data

The Philadelphia’s labor market employs more people than before, but pays them less,

in real terms, than it did two years ago. 17

Construction leads Pennsylvania's private sectors on wage growth in June, at roughly $44 an hour and +8.3% year over year, making it the only sector growing faster than local inflation. Information ($44, +6.9%), Finance ($50, +5.5%), Professional and Business Services ($45, +4.2%), and Manufacturing ($34, +3.5%) fill out the high-pay, growing quadrant.

Information has moved from stalled growth a quarter ago to one of the fastest-growing sectors. The median sector pays about $34 an hour and grew 3.5%. At the low-pay, low-growth end sit Trade and Transport ($29, +1.3%), Leisure and Hospitality ($21, +0.0%), and Education and Health ($27, -0.8%), the only sector with falling wages. Leisure and Hospitality added the most jobs over the year and recorded no wage growth at all.

Source: Philadelphia Works Analysis of Data From BLS QCEW

From January 2022 through May 2026, private-sector wage growth in the Philadelphia metro trailed the national average in every month. June 2026 is the first exception. Philadelphia wages were up 3.1% over the year compared with 2.7% nationally, a 0.4-point lead, and Pennsylvania matched the metro at 3.1%. One month does not establish a trend, but the gap that persisted for 53 months has closed for now.

After a volatile stretch in 2023 and early 2024, when growth briefly dipped below 1% in several months, the Philadelphia line climbed through the first half of 2026 while the national line drifted down.

Philadelphia +3.1% Philadelphia Metro +3.1%

As of June 2026, Philadelphia private wages were up 3.1% over the year while local inflation ran at 5.4%. The difference is lost purchasing power. Real wages fell 2.3%, so a typical paycheck buys less than it did a year earlier.

Local inflation has climbed sharply since the start of the year and now sits 1.9 points above the national rate of 3.5%, the widest gap in the period shown. Faster nominal wage growth in the metro has been more than offset by faster local price growth.

Workers were hit hardest during the 2022 inflation surge, recovered some ground as national inflation cooled through 2023 and 2024, and slipped back as prices reaccelerated in late 2025 and the first half of 2026.

Socioeconomic Analysis

Demographics and Geospatial Disparity

The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) Gender Gap measures the difference between the share of working-age women and working-age men who are either employed or actively seeking work. A positive value means women participate at a higher rate than men in that tract.

Women's participation exceeds men's in 298 of 391 census tracts, about three out of four, with an average gap of 6.9 percentage points. Persistently lower male participation reflects the long shadow of deindustrialization and the disconnection of working-age men. Women make up 51.6% of the city's labor force. The 35 to 44 cohort is the single largest group for both men (23.9%) and women (23.1%). The age profiles are nearly identical, so the gap comes from more women working, regardless of age.

Residents of color are more likely to be out of the labor force and unemployed.

White workers make up 46% of Philadelphia's labor force but about 27% of the unemployed, so they are underrepresented among those looking for work. Black workers show the opposite, 26% of the workforce but 30% of the unemployed. Hispanic workers face the steepest gap, 11% of the labor force and 19% of the unemployed.

The waffle charts show the disparities. If unemployment hit all groups equally, the two charts would look the same. Instead, the yellow shrinks between charts while the blue, orange, and other categories expand. Black and Hispanic Philadelphians bear a disproportionate share of unemployment while white workers are largely insulated.

The map shows unemployment rate by census tract ranging from 0% to 19.4%, with a median tract rate of 4.5%. The darker clusters sit where unemployment claims concentrated, in North Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, and the Kensington–Frankford corridor.

Center City, University City, the Far Northeast, and the Northwest remain largely pale on the map, meaning that they report relatively low unemployment rates. Half the city lives comfortably below the metro unemployment rate.

A bachelor's degree is the single strongest predictor of labor-market standing in Philadelphia. Residents with a formal 4 year college degree make up 23% of the labor force but 38% of the employed, and 16% of the unemployed. Only 13% of Philadelphia's labor force report having a high school degree as their education attainment level, while they make up 20% of employed labor force and 28% of unemployed labor force. The tract-level scatter chart shows the pattern spatially, with a correlation of r = -0.35 between the proportion of BA-plus residents and the unemployment rate. Tracts where fewer than 15% of residents hold a bachelor's degree average 7.1% unemployment, and tracts above 50% average 3.7%.

Appendix

Industry and Occupation Details

Appendix Table 1: Largest Detailed Industry Sectors in Philadelphia, Q1 2026 From the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, this table shows the 15 largest industry sectors by total employment. These data are released on a roughly six-month delay.

Appendix Table 2: Most Specialized Detailed Industry Sectors in Philadelphia, Q1 2026 From the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, this table shows the 10 most specialized industry sectors by total employment. These industries are disproportionately important to Philadelphia’s economy. These data are released on a roughly six-month delay.

Appendix Table 3: Detailed Industry Sectors in Philadelphia with Largest Year-Over-Year Growth, Q1 2026 From the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, this table shows the 10 industry sectors with the largest annual employment growth. These data are released on a roughly six-month delay.

Appendix Table 4: Detailed Industry Sectors in Philadelphia with Largest Year-Over-Year Declines, Q1 2026 From the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, this table shows the 10 industry sectors with the largest annual employment declines. These data are released on a roughly six-month delay.

Appendix Table 5: Largest Occupations in Philadelphia with Employment Change from 2025 to 2026 Based on estimates derived from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, this table shows the 25 largest occupations by total employment. These data are released on a roughly nine-month delay.

For comments or questions about the contents of this document, please reach out to data@philaworks.org

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