JOBLESS — Butler County's jobless rate is now less than 2 percentage point higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, sitting at 5.9% in July. It has steadily remained in the 5% to 6% range since October 2020, having dropped from a high of 16% in April 2020. Despite the increase, however, Butler maintains the lowest rate in the seven-county Pittsburgh metropolitan area.Source: Pa. Department of Labor & Industry

Employers are ranked by employment from September 2020 to August 2021, according to Tri-County Workforce Investment Board:

Federal government

Butler health care providers

Westinghouse Electric Co.

AK Steel Corp.

Wal-Mart Associates Inc.

PA State System of Higher Education

Seneca Valley School District

Butler Area School District

Concordia Lutheran Health & Human Care

Butler County Courthouse

Top sectors by number of employees in Butler County for the first quarter of 2021, January through April:Health care and social assistanceThose employed at offices of doctors, dentists and other practitioners; nursing homes; day care centers:14,004 employees at 711 establishmentsManufacturingThose employed in the mechanical, physical or chemical transformation of raw materials into products, including products of agriculture, forestry, mining and quarrying:10,377 employees at 264 establishmentsRetail tradeThose employed at locations engaged in retailing merchandise, including store and nonstore locations:10,361 employees at 627 establishmentsAccommodation and food servicesIncludes persons working at hotels, restaurants and bars, as well as in catering and dormitories:6,268 employees across 396 establishmentsEducational servicesIncludes those employed in schools, colleges, universities and training centers, whether for-profit or nonprofit:5,409 employees in 117 establishmentsProfessional and technical servicesThose in specialized fields, such as accounting, computer, engineering, legal or veterinary services:4,511 employees across 469 establishmentsTransportation and warehousingIncludes employees providing transportation of passengers and cargo or the storage for goods:4,094 employees at 178 establishmentsWholesale tradePeople who sell or arrange the purchase or sale of goods for resale, capital or durable nonconsumer goods or raw and intermediate materials used in production:4,084 employees across 333 establishmentsConstructionThose engaged in the construction of buildings or engineering projects such as highways or utility systems:4,073 employees at 546 establishments Management of companies and enterprisesWorkers such as auditors, financial managers, first-line supervisors and general managers:3,774 employees in 66 establishments.SOURCE: Pa. Department of Labor & Industry; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

LABOR FORCE — While the county’s jobless rate has fallen since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate by itself fails to tell the full story. The labor force — an accounting of people in the county who are either working or looking for work — has fallen since before the beginning of COVID-19, and now remains roughly 4,000 individuals lower than it was in January 2020.Source: Pa. Department of Labor & Industry