Total nonfarm employment for the Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) stood at 1,142,700 in March 2014, down 5,400 or 0.5 percent over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, national employment rose 1.6 percent. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the March decrease was the fourth consecutive month of over-the-year job loss 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, leisure and hospitality was the only supersector to add more than 1,000 jobs, gaining 1,700 jobs from March 2013 to March 2014. The 1.6-percent local increase was smaller than the 2.9-percent national rise for this industry over the last 12 months. (See chart 2.) Both locally and nationally, over-the-year increases in the leisure and hospitality industry have continued nearly uninterrupted for over 3 years. As of March 2014, this supersector was the fifth-largest in the Pittsburgh area, employing approximately 10 percent of the local workforce.

Pittsburgh’s manufacturing supersector lost 2,500 jobs from March 2013 to March 2014—the industry’s 11th consecutive over-the-year decrease. The local rate of decline for manufacturing employment was 2.8 percent; nationally, this industry gained jobs at a rate of 0.7 percent.

Three other industries lost 1,000 or more jobs since March 2013 in the Pittsburgh area—government, construction, and professional and business services. Nationally, government employment declined over the year, while the two other supersectors gained jobs.

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/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.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 2013	Jan 2014	Feb 2014	Mar 2014	Mar 2013 to Mar 2014
						Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm		134,917	135,451	(P) 136,194	(P) 137,135	(P) 2,218	(P) 1.6
Mining and logging		847	873	(P) 874	(P) 886	(P) 39	(P) 4.6
Construction		5,501	5,533	(P) 5,527	(P) 5,658	(P) 157	(P) 2.9
Manufacturing		11,935	11,949	(P) 11,981	(P) 12,013	(P) 78	(P) 0.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities		25,366	26,014	(P) 25,783	(P) 25,881	(P) 515	(P) 2.0
Information		2,694	2,634	(P) 2,646	(P) 2,659	(P) -35	(P) -1.3
Financial activities		7,813	7,846	(P) 7,862	(P) 7,871	(P) 58	(P) 0.7
Professional and business services		18,173	18,560	(P) 18,696	(P) 18,838	(P) 665	(P) 3.7
Education and health services		21,153	21,132	(P) 21,388	(P) 21,485	(P) 332	(P) 1.6
Leisure and hospitality		13,740	13,783	(P) 13,868	(P) 14,133	(P) 393	(P) 2.9
Other services		5,422	5,416	(P) 5,430	(P) 5,462	(P) 40	(P) 0.7
Government		22,273	21,711	(P) 22,139	(P) 22,249	(P) -24	(P) -0.1
Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total Nonfarm		1,148.1	1,129.8	1,135.3	(P) 1,142.7	(P) -5.4	(P) -0.5
Mining and logging		10.4	10.7	10.7	(P) 10.8	(P) 0.4	(P) 3.8
Construction		49.0	46.8	46.1	(P) 47.9	(P) -1.1	(P) -2.2
Manufacturing		89.3	87.6	86.4	(P) 86.8	(P) -2.5	(P) -2.8
Trade, Transportation, & Utilities		212.2	212.5	210.7	(P) 211.3	(P) -0.9	(P) -0.4
Information		18.2	18.4	18.3	(P) 18.3	(P) 0.1	(P) 0.5
Financial Activities		71.0	71.1	70.4	(P) 71.1	(P) 0.1	(P) 0.1
Professional & Business Services		173.7	170.8	171.4	(P) 172.7	(P) -1.0	(P) -0.6
Educational & Health Services		243.3	237.8	242.9	(P) 242.5	(P) -0.8	(P) -0.3
Leisure & Hospitality		107.6	106.1	107.4	(P) 109.3	(P) 1.7	(P) 1.6
Other Services		50.5	50.2	50.5	(P) 51.0	(P) 0.5	(P) 1.0
Government		122.9	117.8	120.5	(P) 121.0	(P) -1.9	(P) -1.5
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