February jobless rates show little change in Washington, Greene
The jobless rate in Washington and Greene counties was mostly unchanged in February, according to the latest state statistics.
The state Department of Labor & Industry said Tuesday Washington County had a preliminary February unemployment rate of 5.5 percent, up 0.1 percent from January’s final rate of 5.4 percent. The latest rate was 0.2 percent lower than the final rate of 5.7 percent posted in February of 2016.
Greene County saw its preliminary rate of 6.2 percent, down 0.2 percent from January’s final rate of 6.4 percent, and 0.8 percent below the 7 percent rate of a year ago.
In Washington County, which has a seasonally adjusted labor force of 106,500, there were 5,900 unemployed in February.
Greene County, which has a seasonally adjusted labor force of 17,300 had 1,100 without work in February.
According to L&I’s Center for Workforce Information & Analysis in Harrisburg, the February seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area was unchanged at 5.3 percent, which was 0.3 percent higher than Pennsylvania’s statewide rate of 5.0 percent and 0.6 percent above the U.S. rate of 4.7 percent.
In addition to Washington County, the Pittsburgh MSA includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette and Westmoreland counties and the city of Pittsburgh.
Analysts at CWIA said within the Pittsburgh MSA, Allegheny tied Butler County for the lowest jobless rate at 4.9 percent, while Fayette County held the highest rate of the seven counties at 7.3 percent.
In February, seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs in the Pittsburgh MSA increased 4,700 to 1,177,700. Over the year, jobs were up 1.2 percent (+14,300) in the MSA, while statewide jobs grew 1.3 percent.