There were 432 business licenses issued in Berks County in the first quarter of 2022 in Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
This is a 28.6 percent increase over the previous quarter when there were 336 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 Q1 2022 | Issued in Q4 2021 | Percentage change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 149 | 105 | 41.9% |
| Allegheny | 2,395 | 2,022 | 18.4% |
| Armstrong | 70 | 56 | 25% |
| Beaver | 164 | 151 | 8.6% |
| Bedford | 35 | 17 | 105.9% |
| Berks | 432 | 336 | 28.6% |
| Blair | 136 | 114 | 19.3% |
| Bradford | 42 | 37 | 13.5% |
| Bucks | 1,130 | 1,025 | 10.2% |
| Butler | 142 | 127 | 11.8% |
| Cambria | 136 | 95 | 43.2% |
| Cameron | 7 | 0 | – |
| Carbon | 102 | 81 | 25.9% |
| Centre | 230 | 167 | 37.7% |
| Chester | 1,012 | 815 | 24.2% |
| Clarion | 30 | 14 | 114.3% |
| Clearfield | 48 | 24 | 100% |
| Clinton | 52 | 41 | 26.8% |
| Columbia | 92 | 71 | 29.6% |
| Crawford | 98 | 74 | 32.4% |
| Cumberland | 568 | 468 | 21.4% |
| Dauphin | 735 | 598 | 22.9% |
| Delaware | 863 | 796 | 8.4% |
| Elk | 27 | 18 | 50% |
| Erie | 450 | 286 | 57.3% |
| Fayette | 105 | 87 | 20.7% |
| Forest | 3 | 0 | – |
| Franklin | 233 | 176 | 32.4% |
| Fulton | 15 | 6 | 150% |
| Greene | 39 | 32 | 21.9% |
| Hatfield Montgomery | 1 | 0 | – |
| Huntingdon | 41 | 36 | 13.9% |
| Indiana | 45 | 35 | 28.6% |
| Jefferson | 74 | 48 | 54.2% |
| Juniata | 34 | 23 | 47.8% |
| Lackawanna | 335 | 290 | 15.5% |
| Lancaster | 588 | 482 | 22% |
| Lawrence | 107 | 86 | 24.4% |
| Lebanon | 75 | 55 | 36.4% |
| Lehigh | 800 | 661 | 21% |
| Luzerne | 357 | 299 | 19.4% |
| Lycoming | 142 | 91 | 56% |
| Mckean | 13 | 17 | -23.5% |
| Mercer | 100 | 72 | 38.9% |
| Mifflin | 63 | 38 | 65.8% |
| Monroe | 276 | 268 | 3% |
| Montgomery | 1,581 | 1,366 | 15.7% |
| Montour | 32 | 17 | 88.2% |
| none Allegheny | 1 | 0 | – |
| Northampton | 394 | 306 | 28.8% |
| Northumberland | 72 | 66 | 9.1% |
| Perry | 49 | 39 | 25.6% |
| Philadelphia | 5,179 | 5,057 | 2.4% |
| Pike | 41 | 28 | 46.4% |
| Potter | 15 | 10 | 50% |
| Schuylkill | 173 | 123 | 40.7% |
| Snyder | 52 | 37 | 40.5% |
| Somerset | 54 | 30 | 80% |
| Sullivan | 10 | 9 | 11.1% |
| Susquehanna | 35 | 30 | 16.7% |
| Tioga | 44 | 25 | 76% |
| Union | 58 | 46 | 26.1% |
| Venango | 30 | 22 | 36.4% |
| Warren | 11 | 7 | 57.1% |
| Washington | 232 | 179 | 29.6% |
| Wayne | 75 | 63 | 19% |
| Westmoreland | 486 | 331 | 46.8% |
| Wyoming | 16 | 13 | 23.1% |
| York | 695 | 539 | 28.9% |
