Area unemployment rates fall
Increases in education-related jobs helped push unemployment down in the Pittsburgh region in September, according to a state Department of Labor report issued Tuesday. In her monthly workforce survey, Michele Hiester, industry and business analyst for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor, said unemployment in Fayette and Washington counties fell from August to September while it remained unchanged in Greene County and the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA).
Jobless rates in Fayette County were 7.1 percent in September; 7.4 percent in August; and 8.6 percent in September 2004. In Washington County, the rates were 5.6 percent in September; 5.7 percent in August; and 5.9 percent in September 2004. In Greene County, rates were 6.4 percent in September and August and 7.1 percent in September 2004.
In the PMSA, which includes Fayette, Washington, Westmoreland, Allegheny, Beaver, Butler and Armstrong counties, the unemployment rate remained at 5.2 percent, Hiester reported.
Hiester said employers in the PMSA increased payrolls by .6 percent from August to September. “Schools returning for the fall session dominated most of these gains and countered seasonal losses in other industries. Nonfarm jobs data are not adjusted for seasonal activity,’ she said.
“School related increases were evident in educational services and state and local government. The educational year began for schools (private and public), colleges and universities, pushing job levels back up after the summer hiatus,’ Hiester added.
Resident employment in the PMSA rose by a record 10,000 in September, she said, bypassing the largest over-the-month gain realized in May 2002 when 9,500 residents became employed.
“September is a time when the not-seasonally-adjusted labor force and employment levels shrink as many youth leave the labor force to return to school. These levels did not decrease as dramatically as characteristically seen at this time of year, causing the seasonally adjusted levels to expand,’ she said.
Compared to September 2004, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the PMSA was down .6 percent. While the rate has not been below 5 percent since September 2001, Hiester reported, it has been trending down in the past year. Compared to the past September rates, September 2005 is now between the September 2001 (4.9 percent) and the September 2002 (5.6 percent) rates of unemployment.
In other areas, Hiester reported:
– Transportation and warehousing job counts expanded in September. Transportation employment surged upwards as school bus drivers returned to work after the summer break. Below average over-the-month gains in September followed a larger than characteristic July-to-August increase in this category.
– Expected seasonal declines from August to September were seen in the leisure and hospitality industry as establishment employment shrunk by 3 percent.
– Reductions in retail trade, professional and business services, and other services, were in line with past years decreases in September. All these industries remained above the year-ago levels by more than 1,000 jobs.
– Manufacturers reduced their employment levels by 1 percent in September.
Layoffs outweighed expansions pulling job levels down more than typically experienced at this time of year.
– Cutbacks in other local government were in line with the last five years August-to-September declines despite the recent strike at the Pittsburgh Parking Authority. Job levels were down 1,000 over the year.
In terms of seasonally adjusted figures, the PMSA had 1,223,000 people in its labor force in September. Some 1,159,100 of those were employed and 63,900 were not. In August, the PMSA labor force totaled 1,212,600, of which 1,149,100 were employed and 63,900 were not.
In Fayette County, the September labor force total was 66,100, with 61,400 employed and 4,700 not; in August the labor force total was 65,800, with 61,000 employed and 4,900 unemployed.
Washington County’s September labor force totaled 102,600, with 96,800 employed and 5,800 unemployed. In August, its labor force was 101,900, with 96,000 employed and 5,800 unemployed.
Greene County’s labor force was 17,500 in September, with 16,400 people employed and 1,100 unemployed. In August, its labor force was 17,600, with 16,500 employed and 1,100 unemployed.