There were 23 business licenses issued in Chester County in the second quarter of 2023 in Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
This is a 59.6 percent decrease from the previous quarter when there were 57 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. Since then, the unemployment rate has been decreasing, reaching 4.3 percent in early 2023.
Comparison of business licenses issued by County and Quarter
| County | Issued in Q2 2023 | Issued in Q1 2023 | Percentage change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams County | 2 | 14 | -85.7% |
| Allegheny County | 39 | 123 | -68.3% |
| Armstrong County | 2 | 6 | -66.7% |
| Beaver County | 2 | 7 | -71.4% |
| Berks County | 5 | 30 | -83.3% |
| Blair County | 1 | 4 | -75% |
| Bucks County | 36 | 63 | -42.9% |
| Butler County | 2 | 8 | -75% |
| Cambria County | 3 | 9 | -66.7% |
| Cameron County | 4 | 4 | 0% |
| Carbon County | 1 | 6 | -83.3% |
| Centre County | 5 | 20 | -75% |
| Chester County | 23 | 57 | -59.6% |
| Clinton County | 1 | 4 | -75% |
| Columbia County | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Crawford County | 1 | 9 | -88.9% |
| Cumberland County | 8 | 30 | -73.3% |
| Dauphin County | 11 | 36 | -69.4% |
| Delaware County | 14 | 31 | -54.8% |
| Erie County | 6 | 19 | -68.4% |
| Fayette County | 1 | 3 | -66.7% |
| Forest County | 1 | 0 | – |
| Franklin County | 1 | 17 | -94.1% |
| Huntingdon County | 1 | 4 | -75% |
| Jefferson County | 1 | 4 | -75% |
| Lackawanna County | 11 | 9 | 22.2% |
| Lancaster County | 11 | 52 | -78.8% |
| Lawrence County | 5 | 4 | 25% |
| Lebanon County | 1 | 5 | -80% |
| Lehigh County | 6 | 29 | -79.3% |
| Luzerne County | 7 | 15 | -53.3% |
| Lycoming County | 1 | 8 | -87.5% |
| Mercer County | 2 | 6 | -66.7% |
| Mifflin County | 1 | 3 | -66.7% |
| Monroe County | 4 | 11 | -63.6% |
| Montgomery County | 33 | 88 | -62.5% |
| Northampton County | 4 | 18 | -77.8% |
| Northumberland County | 3 | 2 | 50% |
| Perry County | 1 | 3 | -66.7% |
| Philadelphia County | 126 | 187 | -32.6% |
| Schuylkill County | 4 | 8 | -50% |
| Snyder County | 2 | 2 | 0% |
| Somerset County | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Susquehanna County | 1 | 5 | -80% |
| Union County | 1 | 9 | -88.9% |
| Venango County | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Warren County | 1 | 0 | – |
| Washington County | 3 | 11 | -72.7% |
| Westmoreland County | 11 | 22 | -50% |
| York County | 15 | 33 | -54.5% |
