Aug 1, 2010 By James Pletcher Jr. 3 min read

For the first time since September 2009, Fayette County’s unemployment rate fell below 10 percent. Fayette’s rate in June was 9.8 percent, down from May’s 10.5 percent. Fayette’s rate in June 2009 was 9.1 percent. The county’s unemployment rate cracked double digits in September, when it soared to 10.3 percent.

Most of June’s decrease was attributable to people leaving the labor pool. Fayette County’s May labor force totaled 67,200 residents, while in June that figure had fallen to 66,800. There was a corresponding drop in the number of unemployed Fayette residents, from 7,000 in May to 6,600 in June, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor.

In a neighboring county, unemployment fell from 8.4 percent in May to 7.8 percent in June in Greene County. Greene County’s rate was 7.5 percent in June 2009.

Washington County’s unemployment rates were 8.4 percent in June, 9 percent in May and 7.7 percent in June 2009.

Lauren Nimal, department of labor business and industry analyst, said in June, all seven counties in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA) had unemployment rate declines for the first time since December 2006. The PMSA counties are Fayette, Washington, Westmoreland, Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler and Beaver.

Meanwhile, Nimal said the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the PMSA fell .3 percent to 8.3 percent in June. This was the area rate’s third decline so far in 2010.

Pennsylvania’s rate, she added, remained unchanged at 9.2 percent while the nation’s unemployment rate (9.5 percent) was down for the second consecutive month. Over the year, the PMSA unemployment rate was up .9 percent, similar to Pennsylvania’s rate increase of 1 percent from last June.

Among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, unemployment rates ranged from 6.5 percent in Centre County to 15 percent in Cameron County.

In terms of ranking, Fayette County had the 41st highest jobless rate among the 67 counties in June, Greene County placed ninth highest and Washington County ranked 19th highest in June.

Nimal reported that seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs in the PMSA increased 800 to 1,123,400 in June. She said in the past four months, the area has added a total of 12,000 jobs. Pennsylvania jobs declined 6,300 after three consecutive months of expansion.

Over the year, PMSA jobs have risen 5,200 (0.5 percent) while Pennsylvania jobs were up 22,800 (0.4 percent).

Both May and June posted over-the-year increases, the first year-to-year gains since October 2008.

In specific areas, Nimal reported that goods-producing industries in the PMSA were up 1,200 jobs in June to 146,400. “All three supersectors were up although the bulk of the increase was in construction as is typical for June,” she said.

However, goods-producing jobs were down 3,300 since last June, she said. “The only goods-producing supersector to add jobs over the year was mining and logging, up 500 in the last 12 months.

“Service providers added 6,500 jobs from May. The only supersectors to decline were education and health services and government, driven by seasonal school closings and the layoffs of many interim census workers. Health care and social assistance rose to a record high (182,800), eclipsing the previous record high set last June. Information showed a small uptick in jobs, the supersector’s first increase of the year,” she said. Other supersectors showed typical June increases. Nimal said service-providing jobs were 8,100 above the June 2009 level. “Information and financial activities are the only service-providing supersectors that were still below their year-ago levels in June,” she said. And, trade, transportation and utilities showed an over-the-year increase for the first time since July 2007.