Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area Employment – March 2013

Rate of Employment Increase Slower than National Average

Total nonfarm employment for the Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) stood at 1,153,400 in March 2013, up 2,400 or 0.2 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 35th consecutive month of over-the-year job gains in the area. (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 professional and business services supersector gained 4,200 jobs from March 2012 to March 2013, more than any other industry. The 2.5-percent increase was smaller than the 3.2-percent national advance for this industry over the last 12 months. (See chart 2.) Both locally and nationally, over-the-year increases in the professional and business services industry have continued uninterrupted for 36 months. As of March 2013, this supersector was the third-largest industry in the Pittsburgh area, employing approximately 15 percent of the local workforce.

The financial activities supersector had the second-largest employment increase locally, gaining 2,100 jobs over the last 12 months. This gain represented a 3.0-percent growth rate, faster than the 1.1-percent rate for the nation. The recent advance was the local industry’s 42nd consecutive over-the-year increase.

Since March 2012, two industries added 1,400 jobs each in the Pittsburgh area—education and health services and other services. The 0.6-percent local growth rate for education and health services was one-third the national rate of 1.8 percent. Meanwhile, employment growth in the Pittsburgh area for other services was three times the U.S. average, up 2.7 percent locally and 0.9 percent nationally. In Pittsburgh, no other industry gained 1,000 or more jobs during this period.

Three industries lost more than 1,000 jobs from March a year ago in the Pittsburgh area—trade, transportation, and utilities; government; and leisure and hospitality. Trade, transportation, and utilities declined by 3,600 jobs while government lost 2,500 over the year. Government employment fell 2.0 percent in the local area, faster than the 0.3-percent national rate of decline for this supersector. National employment in the trade, transportation, and utilities and leisure and hospitality supersectors rose from March 2012 to March 2013.

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/.

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/.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone:  (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service:  (800) 877-8339.

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.

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 2012	Jan 2013	Feb 2013	Mar 2013	Mar 2012 to Mar 2013
						Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm		132,505	132,704	(P) 133,726	(P) 134,485	(P) 1,980	(P) 1.5
Mining and logging		836	846	(P) 852	(P) 855	(P) 19	(P) 2.3
Construction		5,313	5,340	(P) 5,370	(P) 5,487	(P) 174	(P) 3.3
Manufacturing		11,822	11,860	(P) 11,877	(P) 11,902	(P) 80	(P) 0.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities		25,082	25,614	(P) 25,420	(P) 25,468	(P) 386	(P) 1.5
Information		2,672	2,640	(P) 2,705	(P) 2,703	(P) 31	(P) 1.2
Financial activities		7,726	7,791	(P) 7,803	(P) 7,809	(P) 83	(P) 1.1
Professional and business services		17,601	17,841	(P) 18,024	(P) 18,157	(P) 556	(P) 3.2
Education and health services		20,377	20,375	(P) 20,657	(P) 20,739	(P) 362	(P) 1.8
Leisure and hospitality		13,334	13,264	(P) 13,389	(P) 13,645	(P) 311	(P) 2.3
Other services		5,394	5,406	(P) 5,424	(P) 5,440	(P) 46	(P) 0.9
Government		22,348	21,727	(P) 22,205	(P) 22,280	(P) -68	(P) -0.3
Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total Nonfarm		1,151.0	1,138.2	1,142.3	(P) 1,153.4	(P) 2.4	(P) 0.2
Mining and logging		9.7	10.4	10.5	(P) 10.6	(P) 0.9	(P) 9.3
Construction		49.6	46.5	47.5	(P) 50.1	(P) 0.5	(P) 1.0
Manufacturing		89.0	88.5	88.2	(P) 88.6	(P) -0.4	(P) -0.4
Trade, Transportation, & Utilities		216.7	216.9	213.5	(P) 213.1	(P) -3.6	(P) -1.7
Information		18.5	18.4	18.3	(P) 18.2	(P) -0.3	(P) -1.6
Financial Activities		70.3	71.7	71.7	(P) 72.4	(P) 2.1	(P) 3.0
Professional & Business Services		170.0	171.1	171.5	(P) 174.2	(P) 4.2	(P) 2.5
Educational & Health Services		245.1	243.7	246.2	(P) 246.5	(P) 1.4	(P) 0.6
Leisure & Hospitality		106.1	102.2	101.2	(P) 104.8	(P) -1.3	(P) -1.2
Other Services		51.5	51.4	52.0	(P) 52.9	(P) 1.4	(P) 2.7
Government		124.5	117.4	121.7	(P) 122.0	(P) -2.5	(P) -2.0
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 3, 2013