Oct 28, 2020 2 min read

The jobs situation in Southwestern Pennsylvania continues to improve despite the pandemic’s economic toll.

Unemployment rates in Washington and Greene counties dropped by more than two percentage points in September, according to seasonally adjusted statistics released Tuesday by the state Department of Labor & Industry.

Washington’s rate fell to 8.3% last month. a 2.5-point drop, and Greene’s figure was 8.4%, a 2.2% improvement from August. The latest indicators, of course, are in stark contrast from pre-pandemic September 2019, when Washington was at 4.7% joblessness and Greene at 5.4%.

Neighboring Fayette and Westmoreland likewise experienced declines of two percentage points-plus from August to September. Fayette’s rate last month was 10.7%, down from 13.2%, and Westmoreland’s slid to 7.7% from 9.9%. Their September 2019 figures, respectively, were 6.1% and 4.6%.

This was the second consecutive month that rates tumbled in those four counties. Since July, Washington’s figure has fallen 4.5 points (from 12.8%); Greene’s 4.6 points (from 13.0%); Fayette’s 4.8 points (from 15.5%); and Westmoreland’s 4.4 points (from 12.1%).

Unemployment statewide was 8.1% in September, down 2.3 percentage points from August. The national figure was 8.4%, a 0.5-point dip.

Washington is one of seven counties in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, where the September rate was 8.2%, an improvement of 2.4 points from the previous month. The MSA rate in September 2019 was 4.5%.

Greene County is not in the MSA.

Washington’s labor force, according to Labor & Industry, was 104,600 in September, up 900 from August. Employment (95,900) increased by 3,300 from the previous month, while the number of county residents listed as unemployed plummeted by 2,500 to 8,700.

Greene County’s labor force (16,400) rose by 100 and employment by 400 (to 15,000). The number of unemployed decreased by 300 to 1,400.

Butler County again had the lowest jobless figure (6.7%) in the MSA, which also includes Pittsburgh. Second through seventh also remained the same as in August: Westmoreland (7.7%), followed by Allegheny (8.2%), Washington (8.3%), Armstrong (8.7%), Beaver (9.1%) and Fayette (10.7%).

Seasonally adjusted non-farm jobs across the MSA rose 0.5% from August, an increase of 5,900 to 1,104,100. Year over year, however, jobs were down 7.7% – a total of 92,700. Statewide, jobs declined 7.8% from September 2019.

Education-related supersectors in the MSA posted the largest month-over-month increases in jobs over the month, following summer break.

Government had the biggest jobs increase (8,200) among supersectors, followed by education & health services (6,500). Trade, transportation and utilities, which includes bus drivers, had the third-largest gain (3,900).

The leisure & hospitality supersector had the largest jobs decline (3,600).