Region losing workers faster than rest of U.S.
Southwestern Pennsylvania experienced a decline in the labor force that outpaced the rest of the nation, according to a report released Monday from the Pennsylvania Economy League of Greater Pittsburgh, an affiliate of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.
The labor force fell 4.9% in the area from January 2020 to May 2021, but only 2.2% nationally in the same period.
Still, the drop in the number of workers in the region is likely due to the national number being reflected as an average, said Lauren Riegel, a statistician supervisor for the state Department of Labor & Industry.
“The national numbers are an average, which include a lot of states that had a lot less or later impact from the pandemic,” Ms. Riegel said. “That makes the U.S. numbers a little softer than what we experience.”
However, due to low labor force numbers during the height of the pandemic, there has been a slight increase since then in comparison, she said.
Ms. Riegel said additional COVID-19 restrictions in Pittsburgh also resulted in an increased impact on the labor force. She also said Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate is historically higher than the national average but was still affected by the pandemic.
Jim Futrell, vice president of market research and analysis at the Allegheny Conference, said the gap in local and national rates is because the region experienced a sharper drop in employment and has been recovering more slowly.
“This is a combination of stricter operational restrictions at various points in the pandemic combined with the slower population growth in the region,” Mr. Futrell said. “That said, it’s important to point out that while we have trailed the nation in unemployment rate, we have outperformed the state in four of the past six months.”
Ms. Riegel also said it was more important to be focused on state unemployment rates month-to-month rather than the national average.
“I’d be more focused on where we are in terms of where we were prior to the pandemic, and how much recovery has been happening,” she said. “Of course things will be a little bumpy along the way, but as long as we’re showing that consistent improvement, which we have been, we’re on the track we would like to be on.”