Persistent unemployment casts a pall on Labor Day

Pittsburgh Unemployment Examiner

The arrival of Labor Day 2011 offered little cause for celebration--but plenty reason for consternation--for Pittsburgh-area jobseekers.

As the latest unemployment figures reveal, both locally and nationally, hiring has essentially ground to a halt. According to the recently released report on unemployment from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, their were effectively zero jobs added nationally in August--the first time that has occurred in any month since WWII.

And to make already-grim matters worse, various economic indicator several a growing likelihood that the nation may enter a double-dip recession. The political impasse on Capitol Hill regarding economic policy--as well as the fragile state of much of the European economy--has only made matters worse for those looking for work here at home.

Nationally, the unemployment rate stood at 9.1 percent. In Pennsylvania, the jobless rate in August grew to 7.8 percent--up .2 percent from July. The Pittsburgh area fared little better for the month, with local unemployment inching up .1 percent since July.

A closer look at the state unemployment numbers, as revealed in a report released Thursday by the Keystone Research Center, indicates that the unemployment plight affects far more people the official jobless figures suggest. According to the report, 14.3 percent of Pennsylvanians have been out of work at some point in the past 12 months.

When reviewing the state's employment picture, perhaps the most alarming is a statistic comes from the Department of Labor and Industry report on employment from July indicating that, when including people who have worked part-time in the past year as a result of being unable to find full-time work, unemployment problems have touched a whopping 43 percent of the labor force in Pennsylvania. The report also showed that 24,000 Pennsylvanians left the work force in July. If these individuals were included in the overall employment picture, the state unemployment rate by .2 percent.

There may be some reason for optimism for local jobseekers, though--modest as it may be. Pennsylvania's unemployment rate is down significantly from its high point of 8.8 percent in April of 2010, and the state actually added 8,700 jobs in July (the latest statewide figures available). More impressive are the numbers for the Pittsburgh area: nearly 28,00 jobs have been added in the past two years in the region.

Clearly, much more needs to be done to spur job creation on both a local and--more importantly--national level. Though the partisan political climate of late doesn't augur well for a large-scale, job-creating stimulus package, it is imperative that unemployment concerns be addressed seriously and soon if our economy is to avert the calamity of a repeat recession.