Pittsburgh area added jobs in April, but still below pre-pandemic levels

The Pittsburgh area economy added about 19,000 nonfarm jobs in April, a bright spot in a seven-county marketplace that has added 173,000 jobs during the past two years, but remains about 52,000 jobs shy of its pre-pandemic levels , according to state data.

“This shows weakness in the market,” said Frank Gamrat, an economist and executive director of the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, a think tank in Castle Shannon.

The Pittsburgh region had 1.42 million nonfarm jobs in April, 33,000 more than a year ago, according to data from the state’s Center for Workforce Information and Analysis. The leisure and hospitality sector, ramping up for the tourist season, added 7,500 jobs, while the construction industry increased by 5,400 jobs, a typical seasonal jump.

The unemployment rate, as adjusted for seasonal hiring factors, fell to 4.8% in April, a drop of .0.2 of a percentage point, but still higher than the 4.3% in April 2019, the workforce information center stated. There were 53,000 people in the ranks of the unemployed in April, just 3,600 more than the pre-pandemic level.

The recurring theme in the region’s economy in the past two years has been the shrinking labor force and its adverse affect on employers, who have had to scramble to hire and retain workers. There were 1.17 million people in the labor force in April, just 3,000 fewer than a year ago, but 38,000 less than in April 2019.

The loss of 2.6% of the population in the seven counties — from the 2000 census to 2020 — indicates that very few people are migrating into the region to compensate for those who have retired or left the workforce for other reasons, Gamrat said.

“We seem to have a lack of backup” to replace those who have left their jobs, Gamrat said. “This economy is not going to pick up until we figure out how to get more people here.”