Jan 31, 2018 2 min read

The unemployment rate rose in December in both Washington and Greene counties, according to the latest state statistics.

The state Department of Labor said Tuesday Washington County’s seasonally adjusted preliminary jobless rate of 5.2 percent was 0.2 percent above November’s final rate of 5.2 percent, but was 0.8 percent below the 6.0 percent rate of December 2016.

Greene County’s preliminary unemployment rate of 5.7 percent in December was 0.1 percent higher than November’s final rate of 5.6 percent, but was 1.5 percent below the 7.2 percent rate recorded in December 2016.

In Washington County, which has a seasonally adjusted civilian labor force of 105,800, there were 5,500 people without work in December.

Greene County, whose seasonally adjusted labor force is 17,100, had 1,000 jobless last month.

The local rates reflected those of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, which finished December with a 4.9 percent jobless rate, up 0.1 percent from November’s final rate of 4.8 percent, but remained 0.7 percent lower than the 7.2 percent rate of December of a year ago.

In addition to Washington County, the Pittsburgh MSA includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler and Westmoreland counties and the city of Pittsburgh.

According to L&I’s Center for Workforce Information & Analysis in Harrisburg, Butler County had the lowest unemployment rate at 4.7 percent, while Fayette County held the highest rate of the seven counties at 7.0 percent. The jobless rates across Pennsylvania ranged from 3.6 percent in Adams County to 7.4 percent in Forest County.

In December, seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs in the Pittsburgh MSA increased 6,100 to 1,186,100. Over the year, jobs were up 1.7 percent (+20,300) in the MSA, while statewide jobs grew 1.3 percent.