A severe winter, local colleges adjourning for the holidays and a sluggish economy caused Mercer County's jobless rate to jump in January to its highest level in nearly six years.

January's local unemployment rate shot up to 6.6 percent from December's 4.9 percent rate.

This is the worst unemployment rate for the county since April 1997 when the rate also hit 6.6 percent.

In January 2002 the local rate was 6.3 percent.

While remaining at or below the national and state jobless rates for years, Mercer County's rate has pushed above the state's 5.6 percent rate and the national rate of 5.7 percent.

Still, the county continues to perform well compared to other parts of the state. Mercer County ranked seventh out of the state's 43 metropolitan labor market areas and in 18th place, tied with Snyder and Lehigh counties, among the state's 67 counties.

But that doesn't mean much to the nearly 4,000 Mercer County residents who now find themselves unemployed.

Weather-related industries such as construction took a hit locally as bitter cold temperatures halted building projects, said the state Department of Labor and Industry.

Goods-producing jobs fell by 200 in January, with factory jobs declining by 100 and construction, natural resources and mining also falling by 100.

The service-producing segment saw a 700-job drop, with retail trade cutting back after holiday sales ended.

Education and health services was down by 800 jobs as local colleges had not returned from semester break.

Figures show the civilian labor force fell by 300 to 58,600 in January from December and the number of employed falling a sharp 2,200 to 54,700 during the same period.

Those unemployed in the county grew by 1,000 to 3,900 in January.

Forest County had the highest rate in the state at 18.5 percent, while Cumberland County had the lowest at 3.7 percent.

Mercer County fared better than surrounding counties as their jobless rates in January were:

   » Lawrence County, 9.1 percent.

   » Butler County, 6.8 percent.

   » Crawford County, 9 percent.

   » Venango County, 8.2 percent.

Sharon's unemployment rate was 6 percent.

A rate is kept for Sharon because it's Mercer County's largest city.