Washington County jobless rate above U.S., state
For the first time in 27 months, Washington County’s unemployment rate has exceeded that of the U.S.
The state Department of Labor & Industry released seasonally adjusted rates Tuesday, listing the county’s April figure as 5.5 percent, up 0.1 of a point from March — its fourth monthly increase in a row. Washington topped the U.S. rate of 5.4 percent, after being below the nation every month since January 2013.
And after being at or below the monthly state rate for more than two years, Washington exceeded the state figure for the second consecutive month. Pennsylvania had 5.3 percent unemployment in April.
Greene County, on the contrary, fell to 5.8 percent from 6.0 over the month.