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PLS-4848

Monday, November 14, 2011

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Unemployment in the Pittsburgh Area by County – September 2011

All Counties Posted Lower Unemployment Rates than the Previous Year

In September, Butler County reported the lowest unemployment rate in the Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) at 5.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that all seven counties in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area posted unemployment rates below the 8.8-percent U.S. average. Fayette County registered the highest jobless rate in the metropolitan area at 8.0 percent. (See chart 1 and chart 2. The Technical Note at the end of this release contains the metropolitan area definition. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

Chart 1. Unemployment rates for the United States and counties in the Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area, September 2011, not seasonally adjusted


All seven counties in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area had unemployment rates that were lower in September 2011 than the previous year. (See table A.) Butler County had the largest over-the-year unemployment rate decrease, declining 0.6 percentage point. The remaining six counties posted unemployment rates closer to levels recorded in September 2010, varying by 0.5 percentage point or less. Overall, four of the seven counties posted 12-month decreases larger than or equal to the U.S. average decline of 0.4 percentage point.

Table A. Unemployment rates for the United States, the Pittsburgh, Pa., Metropolitan Statistical Area, and its components, not seasonally adjusted
Area Unemployment rate Net change from
Sep 2009 Sep 2010 Sep 2011(1) Sep 2009 to Sep 2011(1) Sep 2010 to Sep 2011(1)

United States

 9.5 9.2 8.8 -0.7 -0.4

Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area

 7.2 7.2 6.8 -0.4 -0.4

Allegheny County, Pa.

 6.9 7.2 6.7 -0.2 -0.5

Armstrong County, Pa.

 7.6 7.6 7.3 -0.3 -0.3

Beaver County, Pa.

 8.0 7.3 7.1 -0.9 -0.2

Butler County, Pa.

 6.7 6.5 5.9 -0.8 -0.6

Fayette County, Pa.

 8.7 8.4 8.0 -0.7 -0.4

Washington County, Pa.

 7.5 7.0 6.7 -0.8 -0.3

Westmoreland County, Pa.

 7.4 7.3 6.8 -0.6 -0.5

Footnotes:
(1) Data for the Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area and its components are preliminary for the most recent month.

Chart 2. Unemployment rates for counties in the Pittsburgh, Pa., Metropolitan Statistical Area, not seasonally adjusted, June 2011

Last Modified Date: November 14, 2011