The jobless rate in the Pittsburgh area fell slightly in March to 4.9 percent as goods producers and service industries reported employment gains.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the seven-county Pittsburgh region fell one-tenth of a percentage point from February and was below the national rate of 5.1 percent. The state's jobless rate was the same as the Pittsburgh region's.

However, the Pittsburgh metro rate was up eight-tenths of a percentage point from a year ago, when it stood at 4.1 percent.

According to the state Department of Labor and Industry today, the Pittsburgh-area civilian labor force in March stood at 1.2 million. The area includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

The region gained 10,500 nonfarm jobs in March, including 3,700 among goods producers such as small manufacturers. Another 6,800 jobs were generated by service providers, including retail stores, education, health care and social service agencies. The retail sector got a boost from stores that opened their garden centers for the spring as well as the opening of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter store in Natrona Heights, and the expansion of an existing Wal-Mart in Uniontown to a Supercenter.

Among the counties that comprise the Pittsburgh metro area, Butler had the lowest jobless rate in March at 4.5 percent and Fayette had the highest at 6.2 percent.