The jobless rate in the seven-county Pittsburgh region edged up one-tenth of a percentage point in August to 7.8 percent, the 11th monthly increase in a row, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry reported this morning.

The good news? The rate of job losses slowed.

"We are still seeing the unemployment rate go up, but it has over the past about five months slowed down," said labor department analyst Lauren Nimal.

In addition, the jobless rate in the Pittsburgh area remained well below the state's rate of 8.6 percent and the national rate of 9.7 percent.

"Comparatively, we are still doing quite well," Ms. Nimal said.

Still, the region's unemployment rate was a hefty 2.5 percentage points higher than in August 2008, when it stood at 5.3 percent.

The last time the local jobless rate was at 7.8 percent was in November 1986, near the middle of President Ronald Reagan's second term.

Among the region's seven counties, Fayette recorded the highest jobless rate for August at 9.8 percent. The lowest rate was in Allegheny County at 7.2 percent.

Among the state's 14 MSAs, the Pittsburgh area had the sixth lowest unemployment rate. The State College region had the lowest rate at 5.9 percent. Half of the 14 regions recorded jobless rates above 9 percent.

The state's payroll survey found that the Pittsburgh region shed 2,800 jobs in August, down from a loss of 14,800 in July.

Goods producers trimmed 900 jobs, including 300 in manufacturing and 600 in construction. The decline in construction in August was unusual for that time of year.

It could be that construction declines that normally hit in the fall started early this year, Ms. Nimal said.

Service providers gave up 1,900 jobs overall.

The biggest losses in that segment were in education and health services, down 1,000, and government, down 1,400. Those sectors normally lose jobs in August.

Professional and business services showed its biggest drop for August since records began in 1990, losing 700 positions.

The leisure and hospitality sector gained 1,700 jobs, boosted by the opening of the Rivers Casino on the North Shore. Trade, transportation and utilities was the only other service segment to add jobs, up 200.

Overall, factoring in normal seasonal job losses, the total number of non-farm jobs in the region remained stable in August at 1.12 million.

"Being flat means these were all expected job losses," Ms. Nimal said.

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