Unemployment fell again in December as the Pittsburgh region continued the encouraging trend that characterized 2017. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased .8 percent, from 5.7 percent in December 2016 to 4.9 percent in December 2017 across the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Within the... More
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Job Growth Ends Year On High Note
After a flat five years, job growth in the Pittsburgh region ended on an upswing in 2017. The seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area gained 19,300 jobs between December 2016 and December 2017—a 1.6 percent increase over the year, according to the preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The December data cap off... More
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Pittsburgh Wages Show Strong Growth
Wage growth continues to be a bright spot in the southwestern Pennsylvania economy, the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data suggest. The average weekly wage in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area grew 4.1 percent from the second quarter of 2016 to the second quarter of 2017 – the fourth highest growth rate among... More
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Housing Prices Rise Slowly
Housing appreciation in southwestern Pennsylvania remains low compared to benchmark regions. But that doesn’t mean home sales are slack, real estate services say. “It’s a pretty healthy market in the City of Pittsburgh right now and that spills into suburban markets,” said Tom Ceponis, senior vice president, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. “Our biggest Achilles... More
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Local Unemployment Down, Still Lags U.S. Rate
The unemployment rate in southwestern Pennsylvania continues to fall but can’t quite keep up with the national rate. The Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area’s unemployment rate decreased from 5.6 percent in October 2016 to 4.7 percent in October 2017. The national unemployment rate is 4.1 percent. “Historically, it’s a low rate,” said Chris Briem, regional... More
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Poverty Rates Trend Lower
Poverty rates declined last year for both the overall southwestern Pennsylvania population and among children in the region, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data. The annual overall poverty rate for the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area fell from 12.3 percent in 2015 to 10.8 percent in 2016. The decrease dropped the... More
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Drilling For Answers
Understanding the public health impact of fracking slowly gains ground Well pads, compressor stations, diesel truck traffic. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves many moving parts, some of which have the potential to vent pollutants into the air southwestern Pennsylvanians breathe. Fracking doesn’t consist of large, stationary pollution sources, like U.S. Steel’s metallurgical coke plant in... More
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Low Unemployment, But Fewer Workers
There’s good news and bad news for southwestern Pennsylvania when it comes to the latest unemployment data. The good news is the region’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell steeply from 6.0 percent in September 2016 to 4.8 percent in September 2017. The bad news is the low unemployment rate is likely due to people exiting... More
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Job Growth Up, But Not Dramatically
Southwestern Pennsylvania added 17,200 jobs between September 2016 and September 2017, according to data from the Bureau of Labor statistics released Friday. While the Pittsburgh region’s 1.5 percent increase over the 12-month period is a positive sign, it falls below the average job growth in PittsburghTODAY’s benchmark regions. All regions had positive job growth for September, but... More