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4/30/2008 3:38 AM

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Unemployment in Washington and Greene counties declined in March, according to the latest state data.

The state Department of Labor & Industry said Monday that Washington County's seasonally adjusted jobless rate for March was 5 percent, down 0.2 percent from February's final rate of 5.2 percent. The latest rate was 0.8 percent higher than the 4.2 percent recorded in March of 2007.

Greene County, which had a March seasonally adjusted rate of 5.6 percent, saw its unemployment rate decline by 0.3 percent from the 5.9 percent of February. The March rate was a full percentage point higher than the 4.6 rate of March 2007.

In Washington County, where the seasonally adjusted labor force is 103,000, there were 5,100 without work in March. In Greene County, where the labor force is 17,100, there were 1,100 jobless in March.

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The latest local figures reflect a similar trend across L&I's Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area, where the March seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 5 percent in February to 4.9 percent in March. A drop of 1,200 from the jobless count outweighed a gain of 700 to the ranks of the employed, edging the labor force down to 1,201,100. The latest regional rate matches Pennsylvania's rate, and is 0.2 percent below the current U.S. rate of 5.1 percent.

With the exception of the city of Pittsburgh, unemployment rates in the other reporting areas of the region either remained the same or declined between February and March. However, the Pittsburgh MSA was up 0.8 percent from March 2007.

In addition to Washington County, the Pittsburgh MSA includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette and Westmoreland counties and the city of Pittsburgh.

According to L&I's Center for Workforce Information & Analysis in Harrisburg, the Pittsburgh MSA gained 10,500 total nonfarm jobs due to gains in goods producing and service providing industries in March. After six consecutive months of losses, goods producers added 3,700 jobs in March, with small manufacturing gains enhancing seasonal growth in construction.

Service providers experienced their second consecutive monthly increase in March with a gain of 6,800 jobs.

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