Jobs in state grow by 22,600 in March
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Sandi Vito, Pennsylvania's secretary of labor, speaks during the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO conference in the Allegheny Grand Ballroom at the Westin Convention Center.
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Pennsylvania's Secretary of Labor Sandi Vito cast Thursday's report that statewide unemployment rose last month as a good news/bad news sort of scenario.
The bad news is that the unemployment rate rose slightly from February's 8.9 percent to 9 percent in March. The good news is that the increase was driven in part by people who have stepped away from the workforce becoming more optimistic about employment opportunities.
In a speech before the state AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh, Ms. Vito said the report showed the workforce grew by 6,000 people who re-entered the job market after taking a break during the deepest part of the recession.
"They're more optimistic now, so it's actually a good thing," she said.
The report on the survey of nonfarm employers released Thursday showed Pennsylvania gained 22,600 jobs in March.
Ms. Vito, in an interview after her speech, said that was significant, cause it is equal to about 14 percent of the net job growth across the nation.
She said the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 slowed the rate of job loss in the state, but that the impact of the legislation has hit a plateau and that now is the time to invest in infrastructure that will create the platform for future job growth, such as roads and bridges, to allow goods to keep moving.
The March report from the Department of Labor showed 586,000 Pennsylvanians were unemployed last month. Ms. Vito said those half-million people tell only part of the story.
Not included in the state report is the number of people working part time because full-time work is not available. If the people who are working fewer hours because of economic reasons are included with those who are unemployed, that brings the real count of those affected by the recession up to about 750,000 in the state, she said.
Ms. Vito said one of the state's strengths was that it has a diversity of industries that, say, Michigan does not. Pittsburgh, for instance, has diversified from manufacturing into health, financial services and robotics.
The Marcellus Shale, and the natural gas found there, is responsible for an increase in mining jobs. The mining and logging sectors, which are lumped together by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed an increase of 1,800 jobs over last March.
This March there were 23,700 people employed statewide in the mining and logging sectors.
Ms. Vito, addressing a union crowd at the AFL-CIO convention, asked the rhetorical question why the worst mine disasters happen in nonunion mines. "I want to say, on behalf of the governor, we are all part of the mining family, and we need to redouble our efforts on behalf of mine safety," she said.
Thursday's jobs report demonstrates why experts advise to be careful not to put too much stock in a month's numbers instead of taking a longer view. Last month the education and health services showed a decrease in employment of 7,200 jobs. The sector had a nearly complete rebound in March by gaining 6,700 jobs.
First Published April 16, 2010 12:00 am
