There were 161 business licenses issued in Berks County in January 2022 in Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
This is a 50.5 percent increase over the previous month when there were 107 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 Month
| County | Issued in January 2022 | Issued in December 2021 | Percentage change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 61 | 42 | 45.2% |
| Allegheny | 886 | 629 | 40.9% |
| Armstrong | 24 | 17 | 41.2% |
| Beaver | 45 | 41 | 9.8% |
| Bedford | 11 | 5 | 120% |
| Berks | 161 | 107 | 50.5% |
| Blair | 48 | 37 | 29.7% |
| Bradford | 15 | 16 | -6.3% |
| Bucks | 395 | 327 | 20.8% |
| Butler | 51 | 48 | 6.3% |
| Cambria | 45 | 21 | 114.3% |
| Cameron | 6 | 0 | – |
| Carbon | 36 | 22 | 63.6% |
| Centre | 79 | 51 | 54.9% |
| Chester | 373 | 270 | 38.1% |
| Clarion | 14 | 5 | 180% |
| Clearfield | 17 | 6 | 183.3% |
| Clinton | 20 | 9 | 122.2% |
| Columbia | 36 | 22 | 63.6% |
| Crawford | 33 | 29 | 13.8% |
| Cumberland | 211 | 153 | 37.9% |
| Dauphin | 267 | 201 | 32.8% |
| Delaware | 324 | 248 | 30.6% |
| Elk | 11 | 7 | 57.1% |
| Erie | 171 | 86 | 98.8% |
| Fayette | 48 | 25 | 92% |
| Forest | 2 | 0 | – |
| Franklin | 78 | 48 | 62.5% |
| Fulton | 10 | 2 | 400% |
| Greene | 11 | 14 | -21.4% |
| Huntingdon | 14 | 11 | 27.3% |
| Indiana | 19 | 11 | 72.7% |
| Jefferson | 31 | 13 | 138.5% |
| Juniata | 15 | 10 | 50% |
| Lackawanna | 120 | 94 | 27.7% |
| Lancaster | 245 | 157 | 56.1% |
| Lawrence | 36 | 32 | 12.5% |
| Lebanon | 22 | 20 | 10% |
| Lehigh | 281 | 208 | 35.1% |
| Luzerne | 120 | 86 | 39.5% |
| Lycoming | 49 | 31 | 58.1% |
| Mckean | 5 | 3 | 66.7% |
| Mercer | 36 | 31 | 16.1% |
| Mifflin | 22 | 7 | 214.3% |
| Monroe | 99 | 84 | 17.9% |
| Montgomery | 575 | 389 | 47.8% |
| Montour | 8 | 4 | 100% |
| Northampton | 122 | 78 | 56.4% |
| Northumberland | 33 | 20 | 65% |
| Perry | 17 | 17 | 0% |
| Philadelphia | 1,836 | 1,522 | 20.6% |
| Pike | 17 | 4 | 325% |
| Potter | 9 | 3 | 200% |
| Schuylkill | 65 | 37 | 75.7% |
| Snyder | 21 | 16 | 31.3% |
| Somerset | 21 | 15 | 40% |
| Sullivan | 4 | 5 | -20% |
| Susquehanna | 8 | 5 | 60% |
| Tioga | 7 | 6 | 16.7% |
| Union | 24 | 14 | 71.4% |
| Venango | 14 | 8 | 75% |
| Warren | 4 | 5 | -20% |
| Washington | 83 | 62 | 33.9% |
| Wayne | 21 | 24 | -12.5% |
| Westmoreland | 162 | 113 | 43.4% |
| Wyoming | 4 | 2 | 100% |
| York | 258 | 162 | 59.3% |
