Jobless rates falls in Washington, steady in Greene
Washington County’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.0 percent in January, while Greene’s held steady at 5.7, according to figures released Tuesday by the state Department of Labor & Industry.
The seasonably adjusted numbers show that Washington’s rate is two-tenths of a point lower than in December, and four-tenths down from 5.4 percent in January 2017.
Washington’s January figure is slightly above that of the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, which posted a 4.9 jobless rate. That was unchanged from December.
The two local counties’ January figures were above those for Pennsylvania (4.8) and the United States (4.1).
Greene County had a labor force of 16,700 and 1,000 unemployed in January. Washington’s labor force was 105,900, and the county had 5,300 people out of work.
At 5.0 percent, Washington and Westmoreland tied for the third-lowest countywide rates in the MSA, which also consists of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler and Fayette counties, plus Pittsburgh.
According to Labor & Industry, the Pittsburgh MSA had the 12th-lowest jobless rate among Pennsylvania’s 18 MSAs.
Allegheny County had the lowest unemployment figure in the MSA, 4.5 percent, and Fayette (6.8) the highest. Butler (4.6) was second, followed by Washington and Westmoreland, Beaver (5.3), Armstrong (5.9) and Fayette.
Fayette County’s rate, however, was down from 7.0 percent in December and 7.2 percent from a year earlier.
Among the state’s 67 counties, Chester (3.5) and Forest (7.0) had the lowest and highest unemployment numbers.
Total nonfarm jobs declined by 800 in January in the Pittsburgh MSA, down from a record 1,186,600 a month earlier. Jobs in the MSA did rise by 1.7 percent over the year – an increase of 19,600 – while jobs statewide increased by 1.1 percent.