Jobless rate for Butler County again the lowest in the region
Butler County’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate for July again remained the lowest in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area at 2.8%, which is down from 3.1% in June according to the most recent data from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry.
Overall, the Pittsburgh region’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate rose by one-tenth of a percent from June to July, to 3.4%.
In addition, the statewide rate stood unchanged at 3.4%, while the national rate ticked up two-tenths of a percentage point to 4.3%.
Armstrong, Allegheny, Beaver, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland are the other counties in the Pittsburgh region.
Allegheny and Washington counties tied for the second-lowest rate in the region at 3.2%, followed by Westmoreland County at 3.3%.
Fayette County had the highest rate in the region at 4.6%, with Armstrong County behind it at 3.8% and Beaver County at 3.5%.
In counties surrounding Butler not classified as part of the Pittsburgh region, Mercer came in with a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.6%, followed by Venango at 3.8%, then Clarion and Lawrence at 4%.
The Gettysburg, Lancaster and State College regions had the lowest rate in the state at 2.6%, which has remained unchanged since March.
The region with the highest rate in the state was East Stroudsburg at 4.1%, followed by the Johnstown region at 4% and Scranton at 3.9%.
Seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs in the Pittsburgh region increased by 4,100 from June to July. Statewide jobs were up by 1.7% since July 2023.
Jobs increased from June to July in a handful of the 11 “supersectors” in the Pittsburgh area — the broadest groups of industries.
The July supersector figures were not seasonally adjusted, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry.
The largest supersector increase was seasonal in nature, as construction added 900 jobs.
Government saw the largest decline, losing 3,900 jobs over the past month, followed by education and health services, which lost 1,300 jobs.
Over the past year, the largest supersector gain was in education and health services which added 11,800 jobs, with the largest decline being construction which is down 1,200 jobs since July 2023.
