Butler County jobless rate again remains lowest in region at 2.9%
Butler County’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate for the month of April remains the lowest in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area at 2.9%, according to the most recent data from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry.
Overall, the Pittsburgh region’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate for April 2024 went unchanged over the past month at 3.2%, a record low for the third consecutive month.
In addition, the statewide rate stood unchanged at 3.4%, while the national rate ticked up one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.9%.
Armstrong, Allegheny, Beaver, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland are the other counties considered part of the Pittsburgh region.
Allegheny County came in with the second-lowest rate in the Pittsburgh region behind Butler at 3.2%, followed by Washington County at 3.3%.
Fayette County had the highest rate in the region for April at 4.5%, with Armstrong County racking up the second highest rate at 3.7%.
In counties surrounding Butler that are not classified as part of the Pittsburgh region, Mercer County came in with a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.7%, followed by Venango County at 3.8%, Clarion County at 4% and Lawrence County at 4.2%.
The Gettysburg, Lancaster and State College regions came in with the lowest rates in the state, all at 2.6%, which was unchanged from March.
The region with the highest rate in the state was East Stroudsburg at 4.1%, followed by the Scranton and Johnstown regions at 3.9%.
Seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs in the Pittsburgh region decreased by about 1,000 over the past month, to upward of 1.16 million in April. Statewide jobs were up by 1.3% since April 2023.
Jobs increased from March to April in eight of the 11 “supersectors” in the Pittsburgh area — the broadest groups of industries.
The largest increase was a seasonal gain in construction, which added 4,500 jobs, followed by leisure and hospitality that added 4,100 jobs and professional and business services added 2,000 jobs.
Over the past year, education and health services gained 8,900 jobs, while leisure and hospitality gained 2,100 jobs.
The supersector with the largest loss over the past year was professional and business services, which is down 2,700 jobs.
More in Business
