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Pittsburgh region's unemployment rate rose to 7.3 percent in August
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The unemployment rate in the seven counties surrounding Pittsburgh rose to 7.3 percent in August from 7.1 percent in July, according to a report released today by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.
The report includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
In the seven-county region, Butler County had the lowest unemployment rate of 6.7 percent, unchanged from July and a tenth of a percentage point lower than August 2011 when it was 6.8 percent.
Fayette County has the highest unemployment rate in the region with 9.4 percent of the labor force without work.
Allegheny County held steady in August at 7.1 percent unemployment, the same as it had been the month before.
The region lost 6,100 jobs in August including 2,000 jobs in education and health services; 1,300 of those were jobs in colleges and universities.
Local governments cut a total of 1,600 jobs in August, 900 of those in public schools.
First Published October 1, 2012 9:52 am
