Total nonfarm employment for the Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 1,149,200 in March 2015, up 4,800, or 0.4 percent, over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count increased 2.3 percent. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the Pittsburgh area’s March increase was its 12th consecutive month of over-the-year employment gain. (See chart 1 and table 1; the Technical Note at the end of this release contains metropolitan area definitions. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

 

Industry employment

In the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, leisure and hospitality recorded the largest employment gains from March 2014 to March 2015, adding 3,500 jobs. The 3.2-percent local increase was similar to the 3.4-percent national rise for this industry over the last 12 months. (See chart 2.) Trade, transportation, and ulitities employment increased by 2,200 since last March, the second-largest gain in the Pittsburgh area. The over-the-year local increase for this supersector (1.0 percent) was smaller than that for the nation (2.3 percent).

Three other supersectors (education and health services; mining and logging; and construction) in the Pittsburgh area gained at least 1,000 jobs from March 2014 to March 2015. The 12.4-percent local increase for mining and logging was higher than the 0.2-percent national rise. For both education and health services and construction, the local rates of growth lagged those for the nation.

 

Pittsburgh’s financial activities supersector lost 2,800 jobs from March 2014 to March 2015. The local rate of decline for financial activities employment was 4.0 percent; nationally, this industry gained jobs at a rate of 1.9 percent.

Two other industries lost jobs since March 2014 in the Pittsburgh area—professional and business services (-1,600) and government (-1,200). Nationally, both of these supersectors gained jobs over the year.

Metropolitan area employment data for April 2015 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 27, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

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 2012 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/.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the deliniations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on February 29, 2013. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area 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/.

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.

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 2014	Jan 2015	Feb 2015	Mar 2015	Mar 2014 to Mar 2015
						Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm		137,214	138,671	(P) 139,503	(P) 140,326	(P) 3,112	(P) 2.3
Mining and logging		868	893	(P) 878	(P) 870	(P) 2	(P) 0.2
Construction		5,746	5,920	(P) 5,929	(P) 6,025	(P) 279	(P) 4.9
Manufacturing		12,061	12,212	(P) 12,228	(P) 12,256	(P) 195	(P) 1.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities		25,852	26,546	(P) 26,349	(P) 26,451	(P) 599	(P) 2.3
Information		2,719	2,739	(P) 2,770	(P) 2,777	(P) 58	(P) 2.1
Financial activities		7,889	8,016	(P) 8,024	(P) 8,040	(P) 151	(P) 1.9
Professional and business services		18,685	19,124	(P) 19,230	(P) 19,344	(P) 659	(P) 3.5
Education and health services		21,465	21,629	(P) 21,917	(P) 22,011	(P) 546	(P) 2.5
Leisure and hospitality		14,181	14,271	(P) 14,417	(P) 14,664	(P) 483	(P) 3.4
Other services		5,523	5,549	(P) 5,573	(P) 5,597	(P) 74	(P) 1.3
Government		22,225	21,772	(P) 22,188	(P) 22,291	(P) 66	(P) 0.3
Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total Nonfarm		1,144.4	1,143.4	1,144.6	(P) 1,149.2	(P) 4.8	(P) 0.4
Mining and logging		11.3	12.5	12.5	(P) 12.7	(P) 1.4	(P) 12.4
Construction		48.1	48.5	46.4	(P) 49.2	(P) 1.1	(P) 2.3
Manufacturing		88.7	89.9	89.0	(P) 88.8	(P) 0.1	(P) 0.1
Trade, Transportation, & Utilities		212.0	214.6	213.8	(P) 214.2	(P) 2.2	(P) 1.0
Information		18.1	18.2	18.1	(P) 18.3	(P) 0.2	(P) 1.1
Financial Activities		70.5	68.5	68.0	(P) 67.7	(P) -2.8	(P) -4.0
Professional & Business Services		172.8	171.0	171.3	(P) 171.2	(P) -1.6	(P) -0.9
Educational & Health Services		243.2	243.1	245.7	(P) 244.8	(P) 1.6	(P) 0.7
Leisure & Hospitality		108.5	109.3	108.4	(P) 112.0	(P) 3.5	(P) 3.2
Other Services		50.7	51.4	52.4	(P) 51.0	(P) 0.3	(P) 0.6
Government		120.5	116.4	119.0	(P) 119.3	(P) -1.2	(P) -1.0
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