Area unemployment rates hit highest level at end of 2002
You can blame a jump in joblessness in the region on the cold weather. Construction and related trades accounted for a loss of thousands of jobs through layoffs during the last month of 2002.
The impact was felt in all six of the counties in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA).
For example, Fayette County’s unemployment rate crept upward through the end of 2002, reaching 8.8 percent in December, according to the state Department of Labor.
That means there were at least 5,200 residents out of work in Fayette County during the last month of 2002.
And, misery loves company, because jobless rates also rose in Washington and Greene counties as well as in the PMSA, Michele Hiester, state industry and business analyst, reported.
The number of unemployed residents in Washington County reached 6,000, up from 5,500 the month before; and in Greene County it was 1,000, up about 100 from the month before. Fayette County had 4,600 residents who were unemployed, according to Hiester, in November.
The number of out-of-work residents in the PMSA reached 68,700 in December, up from 62,100 in November.
“The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the six-county PMSA surged upwards to 5.8 percent in December,’ she said in her monthly report, “ending the year with the highest rate in 2002 and the highest since November 1995 when the rate was 5.9 percent.’
Hiester explained resident employment fell more than normal in December because of a more than normal recession of jobs. “The majority of those individuals (out of work) entered the ranks of the unemployed while some left the labor force,’ she said.
Much of the shift occurred in one sector, she said. Unemployment claims filed by area residents during December, she said, were concentrated in the construction industry, although there were claims across the job spectrum.
The number of construction jobs in the PMSA, which includes Fayette, Westmoreland, Washington, Butler, Beaver and Allegheny counties, fell from 58,000 in November to about 53,200 in December, Hiester reported.
The number of total nonfarm jobs fell by about 8,000 from 1.134 million in November to 1.26 million in December in the PMSA.
Goods producing industries lost about 4,700 jobs from month to month, she added.
The situation affected the individual PMSA counties as well.
Washington County had 6.1 percent joblessness in December, up from 5.6 percent the month before. However, Washington’s jobless rate in December 2001 was 4.9 percent. Fayette County’s December 2001 unemployment rate was 6.5 percent. Greene County’s rates were 6.5 percent in December, 6 percent in November and 4.7 percent in December 2001.
“Seasonal furloughs in the construction industry were slightly higher than the typical reductions in the past seven years. Frigid winter weather amplified inevitable seasonal cutbacks this December,’ she said.
While manufacturing jobs remained stable over the month, wholesalers cut jobs by 500.
“This slightly larger than normal decrease,’ Hiester said, “was concentrated in durable goods wholesale. This industry includes wholesalers that supply construction materials and equipment, which may have been impacted by the colder winter temperatures in December.’
Hiester said retailers in the PMSA also added fewer people during the holiday season due to “disappointing holiday sales.
“Over the year, retail is down 4,500 jobs mainly concentrated in the general merchandise stores and miscellaneous retail.’
Also, she added, services reduced job levels from November to December with declines in the past several years. “Most of these reductions occurred in recreation and other services as many outdoor-related services were impacted by the cold winter weather in December.’
“Over the year, the labor force expanded with fewer residents employed and more unemployed,’ Hiester said.