After some delay, we have assembled data from the Urban Institute on employment in 11 separate cultural areas. There are also total employment numbers that compare Pittsburgh with 14 other regions in what the Institute defines as "cultural" activities, an area that is broader than what is traditionally known as "the arts."
The region demonstrates a heavy emphasis on employment in museums, theater and dinner theaters and music.
The Pittsburgh region's performance in May was very strong by every relative measure. The number of people working year over year and the size of the labor force were both up significantly. The number of unemployed people was higher than it was a year ago in May but there was no increase over April and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.3 percent. This number is seasonally unadjusted as are all the regional unemployment rates reported.
The latest data for the 12-month period that ended March 31, 2008, suggest that the collapse in the housing market that has caused such pain in many parts of the nation is slow to be felt here. Appreciation in prices in the Pittsburgh region might be even higher in different national circumstances but the most recent news is even more positive than it was three months ago.
Longer term indicators, on the other hand, continue to find Pittsburgh trailing most benchmark cities. This is because the housing boom that began in the early 1990s and continued up until last year's collapse largely passed this region by.
The May jobs numbers are a mixture of good and bad news. Five benchmark regions, like the nation, lost jobs in May compared to May 2007. The 3,200 year-over-year increase in nonfarm jobs in the Pittsburgh region was a clear positive in that climate and exceeded the average benchmark rate of increase.
On the other hand, the robust job growth that has been a characteristic of the Pittsburgh region took a significant hit in May and eight regions added jobs at a higher rate in May than did Pittsburgh. Educational and Health Services and Professional and Business Services continue to be strong regional job sectors.
New indicators make it clear that the Pittsburgh region experiences lower than average levels of crime. Data and commentary assembled by PittsburghToday staff and a Carnegie Mellon University team are now available for the crimes of murder, robbery and burglary for the years 1999 to 2006. See Public Safety.
Over an eight-year period ending in 2006, burglary, robbery and murder rates per 100,000 population in the 14 benchmark cities ranged between 1.3 and 5.5 times the regional rates. The ratios in Pittsburgh for the three crimes were, respectively, 2.2, 4.1 and 3.6, reflecting the very low crime rates in western Pennsylvania outside the core city.
Recent data on the incidence of diabetes in the Pittsburgh region is a cause of concern, with only two benchmark cities having higher levels of the life-threatening disease among their adult population. This indicator report is accompanied by two sets of data on obesity and being overweight which compound the negative picture. Adults in the Pittsburgh region are overweight at rates that exceed both those for the nation and benchmark cities. The four-year trend is also negative. Dr. Bernard Goldstein and Jennifer Geiselhart of the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health, which produced the indicators, discuss the implications of the indicators in an essay in Region’s Forum.
New data on wage levels for 18 different occupations gives a very mixed picture. The Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board has gathered data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for a representative sample of occupations the indicator project regularly measures by category -- such as Retail, Wholesale Trade, Government, etc.
The purpose of this new indicator is to put a dollar number on specific occupations and see how wages in Pittsburgh compare to national and benchmark cities. The contrasts will surprise you.
Job figures for April total 1,150,700, an increase of 8,900 over the same month one year ago. This is also the highest jobs number ever for April except for April 2001 when there were 1,158,100 people in Pittsburgh jobs.
New numbers on employment are also very positive and evidence a dramatic turnaround from March, when employment was down and unemployment was up. The important distinctions between jobs and employment numbers are explained in annotations with each interactive chart. The bottom line in April, however, was 1,143,176 Pittsburghers employed, an increase of 10,627 over the same month one year ago.
Our indicators on air travel have been updated to reflect that dramatic changes that have occurred at Greater Pittsburgh International Airport since US Airways went into and out of bankruptcy and shut down its hub operations.
The historic record is not yet complete so precise comparisons are not yet possible. There are now a series of indicators that all show contraction, however. For perspective, Charlotte handled 31.33 million passengers in the 12 months that ended March 2008; Pittsburgh’s total was 9.387 million. There are 14 benchmark cities against which Pittsburgh is measured for transportation indicators. Only Milwaukee, Indianapolis and Columbus handled fewer air passengers last year.
The picture of the regional economy provided by the most recent data is relatively positive. We use "relative" because new employment data for the first quarter of 2008 come in a time of economic slowdown and the latest employment totals do not yet match those of 2001. With that exception, however, the overall employment picture is better today than at any time in the decade.
There are also are new postings on average weekly wages and cost of living. In the first instance, wages are up significantly, in the second, prices remain relatively low.
See New Data
See New Data
See New Data
See New Indicators
See New Indicators
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See New Data
