Local unemployment hit 7.5 percent in May, according to the state Department of Labor and Industry, a level last seen in July 1992.

While the numbers of unemployed people -- 92,300 in the six-county area -- remains a grim statistic, Robert Dye, an economist for PNC Financial Services, said the good news is that the Pittsburgh region is still well behind the rest of the nation in terms of joblessness.

"This is a favorable report for the Pittsburgh area," Mr. Dye said. "The increase of April to May is less than half of the increase we saw in the U.S."

The national unemployment rate rose from 8.9 percent to 9.4 percent in May while the rate in the region rose just 20 basis points from 7.3 percent to 7.5 percent.

"It's another example of Western Pennsylvania doing better than everyone else. It's a very nice change from where we were in the '70s," Mr. Dye said.

While the numbers being released by the state today show that the number of jobs rose from April to May by 5,700, there is typically a rise in jobs in May when the construction season goes into full swing. When compared to May 2008, the region lost 33,600 jobs, according to state figures. That's why the unemployment figures are seasonally adjusted, so there is a good comparison from month to month without the bumps caused by seasonal job increases and decreases.

National nonfarm job losses from April to May were about 345,000, which some economists saw as a good sign for the country because earlier in the recession monthly job losses averaged 643,000 for the previous six months. Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute noted that the loss of 345,000 jobs was, outside of the current recession, the second highest month of job losses in the last 25 years.

Mr. Dye said those sorts of economic discussions, calling the loss of 345,000 jobs less bad news than the previous six horrible months of job loss, tends to stretch grammar to the breaking point. Still, he said, the news in Pittsburgh is that while the region is still suffering from the recession, it is less bad here than it is elsewhere.

Using the new grammar of bad times, Allegheny County was less worse off than nearly every other county in the state in May, with a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 6.8 percent. That placed the county in a tie with Lebanon County for fifth best in terms of lowest unemployment in Pennsylvania. Centre County had the lowest May unemployment rate in Pennsylvania at 5.9 percent, still significantly more than in May 2008 when it was 4.1 percent.

Allegheny County's May unemployment rate of 6.8 percent was a steep climb over the 4.6 percent rate it had in May 2008.

Armstrong County with 10.1 percent unemployment and Fayette County with a 9.4 percent rate and Beaver County at 8.5 percent were all higher than the state average of 8.2 percent. Armstrong County workers have taken a huge hit since May 2008 when unemployment was at 5.6 percent. Washington and Westmoreland Counties have unemployment rates of 8.1 percent, just slightly below the state average. Butler County had an unemployment rate of 7.6 percent.

As workers continue to lose their jobs, July is expected to be the first month when a large number of people, estimated at 21,000 workers, will run out of their unemployment benefits in the state, according to the Department of Labor and Industry.

Between state and federal benefits, the unemployed have been eligible for up to 72 weeks of unemployment benefits. There is currently a bill in the state House of Representatives to extend that benefit for another seven weeks.

The state's maximum unemployment compensation payout, including an additional $25 from the federal economic stimulus package, is $583 per week.