Oct 31, 2012 2 min read

The unemployment rate dropped in Washington and Greene counties in September, according to preliminary figures released Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry.The numbers were to have been revealed Monday, but weren’t because commonwealth offices were closed the past two days in response to Hurricane Sandy.Washington County had a seasonally adjusted rate of 7.4 percent unemployment for September, down from a final rate of 7.5 percent in August and 7.7 percent in July. That 7.4 figure was up from 7.3 percent in September 2011.About 1,000 more people from Washington County were employed in September than August, resulting in 101,900 working out of a seasonally adjusted labor force of approximately 109,900.Greene’s jobless rate for September was 7.0 percent, plummeting from 7.3 percent in August and equaling the July figure of 7.0. That was slightly about the 6.8 percent rate of September 2011.About 300 more Greene residents were working in September than August. About 19,800 had jobs out of a labor force of 21,200.Statistically, Washington is one of seven counties the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, which also includes the city of Pittsburgh. The other counties are Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette and Westmoreland.The Pittsburgh MSA, according to the Labor Department’s Center for Workforce Information & Analysis in Harrisburg, had a 7.4 unemployment rate in September, the fourth consecutive monthly increase. PMSA’s August rate was 7.3 percent, tying the Harrisburg-Carlisle MSA for the fourth lowest among 14 MSAs. Pittsburgh’s September 2011 figure was 7.2.Butler (6.5 percent) had the lowest and Fayette (9.5 percent) the highest rates in the PSMA for September.The Pittsburgh MSA lost 3,100 non-farm jobs in September. Workforce analysts said seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs in the Pittsburgh MSA dropped 2,200 in August to 1,162,800. They noted despite the decline, the region has added 13,700 jobs over the year, an increase of 1.2 percent from August 2011.Total jobs in the Pittsburgh MSA increased for a 29th consecutive month, and were up 10,500 over September 2011. Trade, transportation and utilities added 800 positions and educational services about 7,700. Leisure and hospitality, however, lost 5,400 jobs, many of them seasonal.