Region shows solid job gains
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Unemployment in the Pittsburgh region came in two full percentage points below the nation's 9 percent rate for October, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry reported today.
The seven-county region's unemployment rate for the month fell another four-tenths of a percentage point in October to 7 percent, from 7.4 percent in September.
It was unequivocally good news.
Mark Price, a labor economist for the Keystone Research Center, noted the two surveys that make up the monthly report -- one polling households about employment and the other checking in with employers about how many people are working -- both showed solid employment gains.
Even Fayette County showed tremendous improvement. Its unemployment rate was 9.7 percent as recently as August but dropped to 8.7 percent in October. Fayette has tended to run at or above the national unemployment rate in any given month.
The statewide unemployment rate was 8.1 percent for October.
"It is across-the-board goodness," Mr. Price said, about the local report.
The employment gains, he said, have wiped out the losses that the region incurred over the summer. He said it's an indication that the Pittsburgh region is leading the state in the recovery from the recession.
"Another few months of gains half this good and Pittsburgh is in pretty good shape," he said.
The employment gains did not surprise Tim Gates, the regional vice president of Adecco, Downtown. His company, which provides temporary and full-time staff to businesses, had a terrific October.
"With what we do, we're a leading indicator," Mr. Gates said. "We usually start to see a spike in business a couple of months before the numbers true it out."
In October, he said, his company found a lot of professionals for local businesses looking to hire the workers directly. "October was the busiest month of the year and November was more of the same."
Mr. Gates said the most growth was in calls for people that could help in the manufacturing of medical devices. In addition, banks were looking for people to help process mortgages and loans, and the insurance industry saw an uptick in hiring.
Overall in the region, the manufacturing sector took a hit of 100 jobs, mostly in nondurable goods. Specialty trade contractors in the construction industry lost 700 jobs during the month.
Service industries showed the biggest gains, with retailers adding 1,900 jobs in anticipation of the holiday season. Colleges and universities added 3,400 workers and local government educational services added 4,200 workers, though local governments, not including education, cut 300 jobs.
The region's largest growing employment subsector, health care and social assistance, continued to gain jobs, adding 1,800 for the month for an overall gain of 8,400 jobs since October 2010.
There are now 191,200 jobs in health care and social assistance in the Pittsburgh region, providing more jobs than retail trade (126,900), all of leisure and hospitality combined (111,900) and all of government (127,800).
The national unemployment report for November is due out Friday morning.
First Published December 1, 2011 12:00 am
