Dec 2, 2020 2 min read

Unemployment rates dropped in Southwestern Pennsylvania in October, the third consecutive monthly decline across the region.

Washington County’s figure fell nine-tenths of a percentage point from September to 7.5%, while Greene’s rate dipped by eighth-tenths to 7.6%, according to seasonally adjusted statistics released Tuesday by the state Department of Labor & Industry.

These latest indicators are in stark contrast from pre-pandemic October 2019, when Washington was at 5% joblessness and Greene at 5.7%.

The October rate in neighboring Fayette County was 9.4%, a 1.4-point drop-off from 10.8%. That was the largest decrease among the seven counties comprising the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area. Fayette’s October 2019 rate was 6.5%.

Westmoreland’s figure dropped nine-tenths of a point from September to 7.5%. Its rate a year earlier was 4.8%.

Unemployment statewide was 7.3% in October, down a full percentage point from September. The national figure likewise dropped one point to 6.9%.

Washington, Fayette and Westmoreland counties are in the Pittsburgh MSA, where the October rate was 7.2%, an improvement of 1.2 points from the previous month. The MSA rate was 4.6% in October 2019.

Greene County is not in the MSA.

Washington’s labor force, according to Labor & Industry, was 104,200 in October, down from 105,600 in September. Employment (96,400) decreased by 300 from the previous month, while the number of county residents listed as unemployed plummeted by 1,100 to 7,800.

Greene County’s labor force (16,400) dipped by 200 over the month; employment remained at 15,200; and the number of unemployed (1,300) fell by 100.

Butler County again had the lowest jobless figure (5.9%) in the MSA, which also includes Pittsburgh. Rankings of the other six MSA counties remained the same for the third straight month. Westmoreland (6.9%) was second, followed by Allegheny (7.2%), Washington (7.5%), Armstrong (7.8%), Beaver (8.2%) and Fayette (9.4%).

Seasonally adjusted non-farm jobs across the MSA rose 0.3% from September, an increase of 2,900 to 1,107,200. Year over year, however, jobs were down 7.4% – a total of 88,400. Statewide, jobs declined 7.5% from October 2019.

Six of the MSA’s 11 supersectors posted job gains in October, with education & health services experiencing the largest increase (6,300). Trade, transportation, & utilities was second, with 3,000 additional jobs.