Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area Employment – March 2012

Rate of Employment Increase Faster than National Average

Total nonfarm employment for the Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) stood at 1,147,000 in March 2012, up 18,700 or 1.7 percent, over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, national employment rose 1.5 percent. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the March increase was the 23rd consecutive month of over-the-year job gains in the area, following 18 months of consecutive job losses. (See chart 1 and table 1; Technical Note at end of release contains the metropolitan area definition. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

In the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, the education and health services supersector gained 9,600 jobs from March 2011 to March 2012, more than any other industry. The 4.0-percent increase was greater than the 2.3-percent national advance for this industry over the last 12 months. (See chart 2.) In Pittsburgh, over-the-year increases in the education and health services industry have continued uninterrupted since October 1995; nationally, this industry has registered over-the-year job growth stretching back to June 1945 without interruption. As of March 2012, this supersector was the largest industry in the Pittsburgh area, employing over one-fifth of the local workforce.

The professional and business services supersector had the second-largest employment increase locally, gaining 3,900 jobs over the last 12 months. This gain represented a 2.4-percent growth rate, slower than the 3.5-percent rate for the nation. The recent advance was the local industry’s 24th consecutive over-the-year increase.

Since March 2011, three other industries added from 2,400 to 2,700 jobs in the Pittsburgh area—trade, transportation, and utilities; leisure and hospitality; and financial activities. Of these three supersectors, only financial activities had employment growth well above the U.S. average, up 3.5 percent locally and 0.5 percent nationally. The mining and logging industry added 1,200 jobs in the Pittsburgh area over the year; no other industry gained 1,000 or more jobs during this period.

The government supersector lost 3,900 jobs in the Pittsburgh area from March 2011 to March 2012. The public sector also lost jobs across the nation; however, the local area’s 3.0-percent rate of decline was faster than the nation’s 0.8-percent decrease. No other industry lost 1,000 or more jobs in the Pittsburgh area over the year.

 

Technical Note

This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor between State employment security agencies and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Definitions. Employment data refer to persons on establishment payrolls who receive pay for any part of the pay period which includes the 12th of the month. Persons are counted at their place of work rather than at their place of residence; those appearing on more than one payroll are counted on each payroll. Industries are classified on the basis of their principal activity in accordance with the 2007 version of the North American Industry Classification System.

Method of estimation. The employment data are estimated using a “link relative” technique in which a ratio (link relative) of current-month employment to that of the previous month is computed from a sample of establishments reporting for both months. The estimates of employment for the current month are obtained by multiplying the estimates for the previous month by these ratios. Small-domain models are used as the official estimators for approximately 39 percent of CES published series which have insufficient sample for direct sample-based estimates.

Annual revisions. Employment estimates are adjusted annually to a complete count of jobs, called benchmarks, derived principally from tax reports which are submitted by employers who are covered under state unemployment insurance (UI) laws. The benchmark information is used to adjust the monthly estimates between the new benchmark and the preceding one and also to establish the level of employment for the new benchmark month. Thus, the benchmarking process establishes the level of employment, and the sample is used to measure the month-to-month changes in the level for the subsequent months.

Reliability of the estimates. The estimates presented in this release are based on sample survey and administrative data and thus are subject to sampling and other types of errors. Sampling error is a measure of sampling variability—that is, variation that occurs by chance because a sample rather than the entire population is surveyed. Survey data are also subject to nonsampling errors, such as those which can be introduced into the data collection and processing operations. Estimates not directly derived from sample surveys are subject to additional errors resulting from the special estimation processes used. The sums of individual items may not always equal the totals shown in the same tables because of rounding.

Employment estimates. Measures of sampling error for state CES data at the supersector level are available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/sae/790stderr.htm. Information on recent benchmark revisions for states is available at www.bls.gov/sae/.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, dated December 1, 2009. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland counties in Pennsylvania.

Additional information

More complete information on the technical procedures used to develop these estimates and additional data appear in Employment and Earnings, which is available online at www.bls.gov/opub/ee/home.htm. Industry employment data for states and metropolitan areas from the Current Employment Statistics program are also available in the above mentioned news releases and from the Internet at www.bls.gov/sae/.

For personal assistance or further information on the Current Employment Statistics program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the Mid-Atlantic Information Office at 215-597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET.

 

Table 1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, United States and the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, not seasonally adjusted (in thousands)

Area	Back data	Mar 2011	Jan 2012	Feb 2012	Mar 2012	Mar 2011 to Mar 2012
						Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm		130,061	130,297	(P) 131,199	(P) 132,010	(P) 1,949	(P) 1.5
Mining and logging		741	813	(P) 817	(P) 820	(P) 79	(P) 10.7
Construction		5,158	5,158	(P) 5,129	(P) 5,215	(P) 57	(P) 1.1
Manufacturing		11,588	11,755	(P) 11,774	(P) 11,842	(P) 254	(P) 2.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities		24,600	25,047	(P) 24,837	(P) 24,907	(P) 307	(P) 1.2
Information		2,667	2,599	(P) 2,643	(P) 2,628	(P) -39	(P) -1.5
Financial activities		7,641	7,645	(P) 7,652	(P) 7,681	(P) 40	(P) 0.5
Professional and business services		16,994	17,335	(P) 17,488	(P) 17,596	(P) 602	(P) 3.5
Education and health services		19,891	19,977	(P) 20,298	(P) 20,356	(P) 465	(P) 2.3
Leisure and hospitality		12,881	12,817	(P) 12,943	(P) 13,212	(P) 331	(P) 2.6
Other services		5,305	5,293	(P) 5,307	(P) 5,337	(P) 32	(P) 0.6
Government		22,595	21,858	(P) 22,311	(P) 22,416	(P) -179	(P) -0.8
Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total Nonfarm		1,128.3	1,132.3	1,136.4	(P) 1,147.0	(P) 18.7	(P) 1.7
Mining and logging		7.9	9.0	9.1	(P) 9.1	(P) 1.2	(P) 15.2
Construction		45.7	44.9	44.3	(P) 44.8	(P) -0.9	(P) -2.0
Manufacturing		88.1	87.4	87.6	(P) 88.7	(P) 0.6	(P) 0.7
Trade, Transportation, & Utilities		213.8	220.4	215.1	(P) 216.5	(P) 2.7	(P) 1.3
Information		18.3	18.0	18.0	(P) 18.0	(P) -0.3	(P) -1.6
Financial Activities		68.5	69.9	70.0	(P) 70.9	(P) 2.4	(P) 3.5
Professional & Business Services		161.1	162.9	164.7	(P) 165.0	(P) 3.9	(P) 2.4
Educational & Health Services		240.6	246.5	249.1	(P) 250.2	(P) 9.6	(P) 4.0
Leisure & Hospitality		103.4	100.3	101.7	(P) 106.0	(P) 2.6	(P) 2.5
Other Services		50.9	51.4	51.0	(P) 51.7	(P) 0.8	(P) 1.6
Government		130.0	121.6	125.8	(P) 126.1	(P) -3.9	(P) -3.0
Footnotes (P) Preliminary
SOURCE: Current Employment Statistics - National - State and Metropolitan Area The Current Employment Statistics (CES) Survey is a monthly survey of business establishments which provides estimates of employment, hours, and earnings data by industry for the nation as a whole, all States, and most major metropolitan areas since 1939. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative program in which State employment security agencies prepare the data using concepts, definitions, and technical procedures prescribed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Return to Mid-Atlantic Information Office Homepage menu

Last Modified Date: May 2, 2012