With the Pittsburgh area jobless rate holding steady at 4.6% for September actual opportunity for job seekers still appears to remain robust compared to the past 5 years. Although this does not tie in to actual strong job growth for our area (job growth still remains stagnant in southwest Pennsylvania) demand for qualified workers in most hourly categories continues to outpace last year due primarily to the number of retirements and population outflow.
This sets up a dichotomy in Pittsburgh’s job market of at least temporarily increasing opportunity for those searching for jobs while not creating new positions that increase overall economic growth and stems the tide of population outflow, especially among young professionals.
Without getting into political debate about what could or should be done to turn the tide and create a spark that stimulates actual job growth (which is not the purpose of this blog) we are certainly at a juncture where decisive action has the potential of reaping greater rewards than at any time in the past decade.
Previous postings have touched on the causes of our long term job growth problems as reported by local media and experts. An excellent blog to follow is Harold Miller’s Pittsburgh’s Future blog. As Pittsburgh enters a long period of demand for the building trades and other opportunities, it is up to state and local government to take action and build on the momentum.
This sets up a dichotomy in Pittsburgh’s job market of at least temporarily increasing opportunity for those searching for jobs while not creating new positions that increase overall economic growth and stems the tide of population outflow, especially among young professionals.
Without getting into political debate about what could or should be done to turn the tide and create a spark that stimulates actual job growth (which is not the purpose of this blog) we are certainly at a juncture where decisive action has the potential of reaping greater rewards than at any time in the past decade.
Previous postings have touched on the causes of our long term job growth problems as reported by local media and experts. An excellent blog to follow is Harold Miller’s Pittsburgh’s Future blog. As Pittsburgh enters a long period of demand for the building trades and other opportunities, it is up to state and local government to take action and build on the momentum.
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