LOCAL JOBLESS RATE CREEPS UP

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Pittsburgh region’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose one-tenth of a percentage point to 5.4 percent in May, as employment shrunk and people left the labor force, according to the state’s monthly workforce report released Tuesday.

For the fifth consecutive month, the labor force shrank from the year before — which could be a troubling sign for labor economists that more people have given up looking for work in 2017.

Since May 2016, the state’s report showed that 6,600 fewer people in the Pittsburgh region were considered to be in the labor force. Government surveys count people in the labor force when they are employed or when they take specific and recent actions to look for a job.

The new regional numbers, compiled by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, also showed annual job growth sat at 0.8 percent in May. Employers offered 9,800 more positions to their payrolls than the previous May, according to seasonally adjusted figures.

The labor force decline this year is in stark contrast 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.

The pendulum swings in the labor force are inextricably linked to the jobs picture in southwestern Pennsylvania. Looking over the last several years, “Pittsburgh has added very few, if any, jobs,” said Kurt Rankin, vice president and economist for The PNC Financial Services Group.

With job growth stagnant in Pittsburgh relative to comparable cities like Columbus, Indianapolis and Detroit, Mr. Rankin said, a decline in the labor force could reflect discouraged job-hunters giving up looking for work and moving for job opportunities elsewhere.

Mr. Rankin noted the U.S. Census surveys that showed the Pittsburgh area’s population declining as a sign people left the region.

“That plateau [in job growth] Pittsburgh has been at since 2012 has been the story,” Mr. Rankin said.

Tuesday’s report showed that regional job openings were up over the year, according to numbers that are not seasonally adjusted for the normal gains and losses during the year.

The service-providing sectors led the way: Since May 2016, leisure and hospitality, which includes full-service restaurants and

hotels, recorded 4,900 more jobs over the year, a 4 percent job growth.

Professional and business services gained 4,000 positions over the year, for about 2 percent job growth. Education and health services was up by 2,200 positions, growing its regional workforce by 1 percent.

Meanwhile, the goodsproducing sector continued to cut jobs. Construction — though it added 1,500 positions in May as spring projects began to heat up — was down 2,900 jobs from the previous year, a 5 percent job loss.

The mining and logging industry offered 9 percent fewer positions compared to a year earlier, and manufacturing jobs declined over the year by 3 percent.

Mr. Rankin said the job growth in leisure and hospitality is solid evidence that those who do have jobs in the Pittsburgh area continue to spend money locally — primarily, at restaurants and bars. It also shows, albeit to a lesser extent, that this region is successful in bringing in tourists to stay at hotels.

It is “one of the only things that keeps analysis of the Pittsburgh economy from being completely dire,” he said.