April area jobless rate rises to 5.3%

Labor force shrank for 4th month in a row

The Pittsburgh region’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose two-tenths of a percent to 5.3 percent in April, as more people joined the labor force looking for work, according to the state’s monthly workforce report released Tuesday.

Despite the monthly changes, the longer-term trend could be more troubling: For the fourth consecutive month, the region’s labor force shrank from the previous year, a sign that more people have given up looking for work in 2017.

The new regional numbers, compiled by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, also showed annual job growth slowed to 0.5 percent in April.

Employers offered 5,900 more positions than the previous April, according to numbers that are not seasonally adjusted for the normal gains and losses during the year. The region’s annual job growth was 0.8 percent in March.

The labor force decline — about 5,900 people stopped looking for work since April 2016 — is a change from 2016. Last year, the region’s unemployment rate rose nearly a full percentage point as roughly 12,000 people who had given up looking for work began to put in resumes once again, according to the state reports.

Tuesday’s report showed that although regional job openings increased steadily in April, the yearover-year comparison was less rosy.

The service-providing sectors led the way: Since April 2016, leisure and hospitality, which includes full-service restaurants and hotels, recorded 4,500 more jobs over the year, a 4 percent job growth.

Professional and business services gained 3,100 positions over