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News Release Information

22-2085-PHI
Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Pittsburgh Area Employment – September 2022

Total nonfarm employment for Pittsburgh, PA, increased by 32,300 over the year in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1 and table 1.) Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the local rate of job growth, 2.9 percent, compared to the 3.7-percent national increase. (All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

Industry employment

In Pittsburgh, PA, leisure and hospitality added 13,100 of the 32,300 jobs gained. (See chart 2). Within this supersector, accommodation and food services accounted for an increase of 10,900 jobs. The 12.4-percent growth in the metropolitan area’s leisure and hospitality supersector compared to the 8.1-increase on a national level.

Within the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector, employment in the transportation and warehousing sector rose by 3,800 jobs over the year in the metropolitan area.

2022 Preliminary Benchmark Revision to Establishment Survey Data

Each year, Current Employment Statistics (CES) estimates are benchmarked to comprehensive counts of employment from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). These counts are derived from state unemployment insurance (UI) tax records that nearly all employers are required to file. As part of the benchmark process for benchmark year 2022, census-derived employment counts replace CES payroll employment estimates for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and about 450 metropolitan areas and divisions for the period from April 2021 to September 2022.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released first-quarter 2022 data from the QCEW on August 24, 2022. Preliminary benchmark revisions for March 2022 for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and selected metropolitan areas at the total nonfarm level are available on the CES State and Area homepage at www.bls.gov/sae. The final benchmark revision for all state and metropolitan area series will be issued with the publication of the January 2023 State Employment and Unemployment news release in March 2023.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for October 2022 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, December 1, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

Hurricane Ian

Hurricane Ian had no discernible effect on the employment data for September. Establishment survey data collection rates were within normal ranges. Employees who are paid for any part of the pay period, even 1 hour, that includes the 12th of the month are counted as employed. For a general discussion of how unusually severe weather can affect the estimates, see question 8 in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Employment Situation news release.


Technical Note

This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the CES program. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor between State employment security agencies and the U.S. 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 2017 version of the North American Industry Classification System.

Method of estimation. CES State and Area employment data are produced using several estimation procedures. Where possible these data are produced using a "weighted link relative" estimation technique in which a ratio of current-month weighted employment to that of the previous-month weighted employment is computed from a sample of establishments reporting for both months. The estimates of employment for the current month are then obtained by multiplying these ratios by the previous month's employment estimates. The weighted link relative technique is utilized for data series where the sample size meets certain statistical criteria. For some employment series, the estimates are produced with a model that uses direct sample estimates (described above) combined with other regressors to decrease volatility in estimation.

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. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at www.bls.gov/web/laus/bmrk_article.htm.

Reliability of the estimates. The estimates presented in this release are based on sample surveys, administrative data, and modeling 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 also are 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 specific estimation processes used. The sums of individual items may not always equal totals shown in the same tables due to rounding.

Employment estimates. Changes in metropolitan area nonfarm payroll employment are cited in the analysis of this release only if they have been determined to be statistically significant at the 90-percent confidence level. Measures of sampling error for the total nonfarm employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions at www.bls.gov/web/laus/790stderr.htm.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this news release reflect the delineations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on April 10, 2018. The 12 metropolitan areas discussed in

The Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties in Pennsylvania.

Additional information

Employment data from the CES program are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/sae/.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, United States and the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, not seasonally adjusted (in thousands)
Area Back
data
Sep
2021
Jul
2022
Aug
2022
Sep
2022
Sep 2021 to
Sep 2022
Net
change
Percent
change

United States

Total nonfarm

147,651 152,258 (p)152,642 (p)153,073 (p)5,422 (p)3.7

Mining and logging

579 642 (p)637 (p)636 (p)57 (p)9.8

Construction

7,595 7,909 (p)7,910 (p)7,877 (p)282 (p)3.7

Manufacturing

12,427 12,899 (p)12,923 (p)12,889 (p)462 (p)3.7

Trade, transportation, and utilities

27,730 28,644 (p)28,647 (p)28,595 (p)865 (p)3.1

Information

2,872 3,055 (p)3,049 (p)3,044 (p)172 (p)6.0

Financial activities

8,800 9,026 (p)9,020 (p)8,956 (p)156 (p)1.8

Professional and business services

21,460 22,418 (p)22,475 (p)22,452 (p)992 (p)4.6

Education and health services

23,706 24,191 (p)24,289 (p)24,598 (p)892 (p)3.8

Leisure and hospitality

14,758 16,541 (p)16,443 (p)15,950 (p)1,192 (p)8.1

Other services

5,517 5,786 (p)5,763 (p)5,711 (p)194 (p)3.5

Government

22,207 21,147 (p)21,486 (p)22,365 (p)158 (p)0.7

Pittsburgh metropolitan area

Total Nonfarm

1,126.5 1,152.5 1,147.1 (p)1,158.8 (p)32.3 (p)2.9

Mining and logging

8.3 9.0 9.1 (p)9.2 (p)0.9 (p)10.8

Construction

63.1 64.0 63.0 (p)62.4 (p)-0.7 (p)-1.1

Manufacturing

80.2 83.0 83.5 (p)83.0 (p)2.8 (p)3.5

Trade, transportation, and utilities

199.4 199.7 199.8 (p)205.5 (p)6.1 (p)3.1

Information

21.0 21.1 20.9 (p)20.9 (p)-0.1 (p)-0.5

Financial activities

75.2 75.9 76.5 (p)75.6 (p)0.4 (p)0.5

Professional and business Services

182.4 187.5 188.0 (p)187.8 (p)5.4 (p)3.0

Education and health Services

234.9 232.6 232.3 (p)236.6 (p)1.7 (p)0.7

Leisure and hospitality

105.5 125.4 121.8 (p)118.6 (p)13.1 (p)12.4

Other services

44.9 48.4 47.5 (p)46.7 (p)1.8 (p)4.0

Government

111.6 105.9 104.7 (p)112.5 (p)0.9 (p)0.8

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

SOURCE: Current Employment Statistics - National - State and Metropolitan Area

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, October 26, 2022