Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Pittsburgh Economy: Best In 34 Years

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review screams, "Joblessness nears 17-year high in region". I can smell the schadenfreude at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy all the way from Colorado. But the absolute numbers don't tell the real story:

June 1975 is the last month that Pittsburgh's unemployment rate was 1.9 percentage points below the US. For consistent data I have since 1969, the most Pittsburgh has been below the US is 2.1 percentage points in April of 1975. More than that and it's kind of uncharted territory.

The Trib's version details the global drag on the local economy. The narrative at Null Space points out remarkable local resilience in the face of a global crisis. In a few months, we may be talking about how things never have been better in Pittsburgh.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Pittsburgh is a great city.. But having lived in many places, I can see clearly the effects here of prolong union coddling single party rule (democrat). Taxes are outrageous, and when economies are expanding elsewhere (not now, but eventually again) job growth here will remain anemic.
The fact that unemployment is not increasing dramatically here during the recession is not so much a positive sign for Pittsburgh as it is reflective of the fact that our economy is terrible in good times and bad. Low unemployment is due to an increase in the number of public sector jobs (vs private) and people moving away. Pubic sector jobs are NOT a measure of economic vitality since they are paid by tax $'s, not supported through value creating transactions as in the private sector.