Search Observer-Reporter

Search Archive

6/30/2009 3:33 AM

Email this article • Print this article  

This article has been read 181 times.

Unemployment continued to rise in Washington and Greene counties in May, according to the latest state statistics.

The state Department of Labor & Industry said Monday the May preliminary seasonally adjusted jobless rate for Washington County was 8.1 percent, up 0.5 percent from April's final rate of 7.6 percent, and 3.1 percent higher than the 5 percent rate of May 2008.

The May rate of 7.9 percent in Greene County was 0.5 percent above April's final rate of 7.4 percent, and was 2.2 percent higher than the 5.7 rate registered for May 2008.

In Washington County, which has a seasonally adjusted labor force of 106,300, there were 8,600 people without work in May. Greene County, which has a labor force of 17,200, had 1,500 unemployed during the latest reporting period.

Rate This Story:
1 the lowest - 5 the highest

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Current rating:

The local increases in joblessness mirrored those throughout the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a preliminary seasonally adjusted rate of 7.5 percent, up 0.2 percent from April's final rate of 7.3 percent. A year ago in May, the Pittsburgh MSA rate was 4.9 percent.

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

According to analysts at the Labor Department's Center for Workforce Information & Analysis in Harrisburg, the latest Pittsburgh MSA rate of 7.5 percent is the area's highest rate of unemployment since July 1992.

However, the latest rate remains lower than Pennsylvania's current 8.2 percent rate and the U.S. current rate of 9.4 percent.

The seasonally adjusted jobs count in the Pittsburgh MSA fell 2,500 from April to 1,121,400 and is the lowest level since March 1999. The area has lost 30,600 jobs since May 2008.

Analysts said goods producers in the region experienced the smallest May increase on record, up 500 to 149,600 jobs. Construction was the only supersector to add jobs, although its gain of 1,400 was a smaller May increase than typical. Manufacturers have lost 9,700 jobs over the past 10 months of consecutive decreases.

Service-providing companies added 5,200 jobs from April. Leisure and hospitality added by far the most jobs of any supersector, up 6,000 to 106,300. Trade, transportation and utilities gained 2,000 jobs with most of the increase from retail trade. Health care and social assistance rose to a record high of 182,100 jobs.

Home

0 comments

All comments will be reviewed by administrators and posted to their respective articles within 24 hours. Comments deemed inappropriate will not be posted.

Subject:
Body:
Poster:

Enter text seen above: