There were 72 business licenses issued in Lancaster County in the fourth quarter of 2022 in Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
This is an 86.3 percent decrease from the previous quarter when there were 525 licenses issued.
Pennsylvania suffered a surge of unemployment and business closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The average annual unemployment rate in the state more than doubled in 2020 to 9.1 percent. This was the highest annual unemployment rate in Pennsylvania since 2003.
Comparison of business licenses issued by County and Quarter
| County | Issued in Q4 2022 | Issued in Q3 2022 | Percentage change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams County | 14 | 130 | -89.2% |
| Allegheny County | 284 | 2,078 | -86.3% |
| Armstrong County | 10 | 75 | -86.7% |
| Beaver County | 13 | 114 | -88.6% |
| Bedford County | 2 | 17 | -88.2% |
| Berks County | 44 | 301 | -85.4% |
| Blair County | 22 | 109 | -79.8% |
| Bradford County | 5 | 21 | -76.2% |
| Bucks County | 169 | 947 | -82.2% |
| Butler County | 16 | 98 | -83.7% |
| Cambria County | 21 | 117 | -82.1% |
| Cameron County | 19 | 115 | -83.5% |
| Carbon County | 14 | 78 | -82.1% |
| Centre County | 24 | 180 | -86.7% |
| Chester County | 151 | 862 | -82.5% |
| Clarion County | 9 | 18 | -50% |
| Clearfield County | 8 | 46 | -82.6% |
| Clinton County | 5 | 47 | -89.4% |
| Columbia County | 12 | 88 | -86.4% |
| Crawford County | 13 | 81 | -84% |
| Cumberland County | 72 | 420 | -82.9% |
| Dauphin County | 100 | 578 | -82.7% |
| Delaware County | 124 | 701 | -82.3% |
| Erie County | 60 | 403 | -85.1% |
| Fayette County | 9 | 105 | -91.4% |
| Franklin County | 20 | 175 | -88.6% |
| Fulton County | 1 | 5 | -80% |
| Greene County | 2 | 32 | -93.8% |
| Huntingdon County | 10 | 78 | -87.2% |
| Indiana County | 6 | 39 | -84.6% |
| Jefferson County | 5 | 54 | -90.7% |
| Juniata County | 1 | 14 | -92.9% |
| Lackawanna County | 35 | 274 | -87.2% |
| Lancaster County | 72 | 525 | -86.3% |
| Lawrence County | 16 | 89 | -82% |
| Lebanon County | 8 | 61 | -86.9% |
| Lehigh County | 98 | 639 | -84.7% |
| Luzerne County | 47 | 286 | -83.6% |
| Lycoming County | 16 | 150 | -89.3% |
| Mercer County | 10 | 80 | -87.5% |
| Mifflin County | 10 | 37 | -73% |
| Monroe County | 45 | 233 | -80.7% |
| Montgomery County | 210 | 1,286 | -83.7% |
| Montour County | 2 | 27 | -92.6% |
| Northampton County | 46 | 278 | -83.5% |
| Northumberland County | 11 | 60 | -81.7% |
| Perry County | 4 | 41 | -90.2% |
| Philadelphia County | 806 | 4,657 | -82.7% |
| Pike County | 3 | 11 | -72.7% |
| Potter County | 5 | 24 | -79.2% |
| Schuylkill County | 15 | 123 | -87.8% |
| Snyder County | 2 | 48 | -95.8% |
| Somerset County | 17 | 50 | -66% |
| Susquehanna County | 3 | 17 | -82.4% |
| Tioga County | 7 | 31 | -77.4% |
| Union County | 7 | 37 | -81.1% |
| Venango County | 1 | 19 | -94.7% |
| Warren County | 1 | 11 | -90.9% |
| Washington County | 32 | 207 | -84.5% |
| Wayne County | 17 | 108 | -84.3% |
| Westmoreland County | 42 | 303 | -86.1% |
| York County | 84 | 579 | -85.5% |
