The job outlook here remained somewhat brighter than that in the state and nation at large, with the May unemployment rate creeping up one tenth of a point to 5 percent, compared to 5.2 percent in Pennsylvania and 5.5 percent nationwide.

Helping to insulate the region were payroll gains in administrative support services plus the predictable, warm-weather buildup in the leisure and hospitality trade. Service jobs reached their highest level since December with a gain of 7,400 jobs.

Some, but not all, of the record gains in administrative support and company management were attributed to spring landscaping jobs, said Lauren Nimal, state Department of Labor and Industry workforce analyst.

Offsetting those gains were seasonal declines in public and private education that marked the end of the school year, plus a strike/lockout at Latrobe Specialty Steel Co. that led to a 300-worker drop in primary metal manufacturing to 13,900 jobs, the lowest May on record.

An all-time low was recorded at department stores, which suffered a net loss of 200 jobs. About 12,100 worked at department stores in May, the lowest total since data began to be collected in January 1980, said Ms. Nimal.

As usual, the numbers released today included seasonally adjusted results from household surveys and unemployment claims, along with employer-supplied payroll data used to spot industry-specific trends.

Together, the figures shaped a portrait of the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area (Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties) that still left room for optimism but with the roar of a recession drawing ever so near.

Economist Harold Miller pointed to the 3,200 jobs that were added to the 1,156,400 on hand in May 2007, an increase of .28 percent.

That's certainly better than nothing, he said, since 14 of the top 40 regions lost jobs. The list wasn't limited to places like Cleveland and Detroit, but included fair-weather hubs such as San Diego, Phoenix, Tampa and Miami.

Still, the snail-like pace of growth here paled to the year-to-year marks seen in January through April, when the increase was between 7,000 to 9,000 jobs.

"The bad news is that our rate of job growth has slowed dramatically. The good news is that we're still creating jobs, whereas many other regions are actually losing jobs," said Mr. Miller, a local management consultant and former executive director of the Pennsylvania Economy League of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

The next few months will be critical.

"We're close, we could fall into that other category," he said, "but if things bottom out soon we may be able to stay on the positive side."

Even the best job producers saw significant dropoffs this May, though the gains in Houston, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio were as much as 10 times those seen here.

"You can guess what those four places have in common," Mr. Miller said, alluding to the Lone Star State's oil-driven economy.