Total nonfarm employment for the Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 1,172,600 in March 2018, up 14,700, or 1.3 percent, over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count increased 1.6 percent. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the Pittsburgh area’s March increase was its 15^th consecutive month of over-the-year employment gains. (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, education and health services had the largest employment gain from March 2017 to March 2018, adding 6,100 jobs. The local 2.4-percent increase was faster than the 1.9-percent national increase for this industry. (See chart 2.) Leisure and hospitality employment increased by 4,100 since last March, the second-largest gain in the Pittsburgh area. The over-the-year local increase for this supersector (3.6 percent) was nearly twice as fast as the national increase (1.9 percent).

The professional and business services supersector in the Pittsburgh area gained 1,000 jobs from March 2017 to March 2018. The local rate of increase for professional and business services employment (0.6 percent) was slower than that for the nation (2.5 percent).

Only one industry—trade, transportation, and utilities—lost more than 1,000 jobs from March 2017 to March 2018. The local rate of decline for this industry was 0.9 percent; nationally, trade, transportation, and utilities gained jobs at a rate of 1.1 percent.

Metropolitan area employment data for April 2018 are scheduled to be released on Friday, May 18, 2018, 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 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.

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 the total nonfarm employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions at www.bls.gov/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.htm. Measures of sampling error for more detailed series at the area and division level are available upon request. Measures of sampling error for states down to the supersector level are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/web/laus/790stderr.htm. Measures of nonsampling error are not available for the areas contained in this news release. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at www.bls.gov/web/laus/benchmark.pdf.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the deliniations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on July 15, 2015. 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.

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

Area	Back data	Mar 2017	Jan 2018	Feb 2018	Mar 2018	Mar 2017 to Mar 2018
						Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm		145,078	145,435	(p)146,667	(p)147,332	(p)2,254	(p)1.6
Mining and logging		650	693	(p)702	(p)712	(p)62	(p)9.5
Construction		6,634	6,692	(p)6,797	(p)6,880	(p)246	(p)3.7
Manufacturing		12,340	12,481	(p)12,533	(p)12,575	(p)235	(p)1.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities		27,104	27,463	(p)27,329	(p)27,410	(p)306	(p)1.1
Information		2,803	2,723	(p)2,752	(p)2,751	(p)-52	(p)-1.9
Financial activities		8,363	8,457	(p)8,489	(p)8,499	(p)136	(p)1.6
Professional and business services		20,070	20,326	(p)20,469	(p)20,568	(p)498	(p)2.5
Education and health services		23,185	23,241	(p)23,590	(p)23,622	(p)437	(p)1.9
Leisure and hospitality		15,524	15,440	(p)15,594	(p)15,824	(p)300	(p)1.9
Other services		5,712	5,751	(p)5,780	(p)5,797	(p)85	(p)1.5
Government		22,693	22,168	(p)22,632	(p)22,694	(p)1	(p)0.0
Pittsburgh, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total Nonfarm		1,157.9	1,160.5	1,166.3	(p)1,172.6	(p)14.7	(p)1.3
Mining and logging		9.3	10.4	10.4	(p)10.4	(p)1.1	(p)11.8
Construction		50.1	53.0	52.9	(p)54.5	(p)4.4	(p)8.8
Manufacturing		85.2	85.4	85.7	(p)86.1	(p)0.9	(p)1.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities		210.0	210.9	208.5	(p)208.2	(p)-1.8	(p)-0.9
Information		18.1	18.4	18.5	(p)18.5	(p)0.4	(p)2.2
Financial activities		72.5	71.8	72.3	(p)71.7	(p)-0.8	(p)-1.1
Professional and business Services		179.2	179.2	179.4	(p)180.2	(p)1.0	(p)0.6
Education and health Services		250.3	251.9	254.4	(p)256.4	(p)6.1	(p)2.4
Leisure and hospitality		113.7	115.4	115.5	(p)117.8	(p)4.1	(p)3.6
Other services		50.9	51.0	51.2	(p)51.1	(p)0.2	(p)0.4
Government		118.6	113.1	117.5	(p)117.7	(p)-0.9	(p)-0.8
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