Butler County’s jobless rate lowest in region
Butler County’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate for November was once again the lowest in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area at 3.3%, down from 3.5% in October, according to the most recent data from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry.
The Pittsburgh region’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate went unchanged from October to November, rounding out at 3.5%.
The statewide rate stood at 3.5%, while the national rate came in at 4.2%.
Armstrong, Allegheny, Beaver, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland are the other counties in the Pittsburgh region.
Allegheny and Washington counties came in tied with the second lowest rates in the region at 3.7%, with Westmoreland County just behind at 3.8%.
Fayette County came in with the highest rate in the region at 4.8%, while Armstrong County came in with a rate of 4.1% and Beaver County at 4%.
In counties surrounding Butler not classified as part of the Pittsburgh region, Mercer County came in with a jobless rate of 4.1%, followed by Venango County at 4.2%, then Clarion County at 4.3% and Lawrence County at 4.5%.
The State College region had the lowest rate in the state at 2.7%, followed by the Gettysburg region at 2.8%, while the Lancaster and Lebanon regions both had a rate of 2.9%.
The region with the highest rate in the state was Johnstown at 4.2%, followed by East Stroudsburg at 4.1%.
Seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs in the Pittsburgh region increased by 500 jobs from October to November to 1,184,800 jobs.
Jobs decreased from October to November in five of the 11 “supersectors” in the Pittsburgh area — the broadest groups of industries.
Construction had the largest decline over the past month losing about 2,500 jobs, followed by leisure and hospitality with a loss of about 1,800 jobs.
Jobs rose in four supersectors, lead by trade, transportation and utilities with a gain of 3,700 jobs.
Over the past year, the largest supersector gain was in education and health services with added 8,200 jobs, followed by leisure and hospitality which added 6,100 jobs.
