The Pittsburgh region’s unemployment rate held steady in December at 4%, as more people are both looking for work and finding it, according to data released Tuesday by the state Department of Labor & Industry.
It was the second consecutive month that the jobless rate in the seven-county area was about 4% — the lowest rate according to department records dating back to 1976.
In December, Pennsylvania hit statewide record-low unemployment rate of 3.9%. Nationally, the jobless rate fell one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.5% over the month.
The region added about 3,300 non-farm jobs in December, bringing the tally to about 1.15 million. Jobs increased over the month, led by a seasonal increase of 1,300 in trade, transportation and utilities.
Over the year, the number of people looking for work climbed.
The region’s labor force grew from 1.16 million in December 2021 to 1.18 million in December 2022. The year-over-year number is the seasonally adjusted figure that covers Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
“More people are going into the labor market, and many of those folks are getting jobs,” said David Hand, a statistician for the Department of Labor & Industry.
Throughout the year, jobs were up in the leisure and hospitality (9.9%) and professional and business services (6.4%) sectors. The largest decline was in construction, which was down 1.7% since December 2021.
While the gains show recovery since covid-19 hit in 2020, the region still has work to do to grow, said Gus Faucher, economist with PNC Financial Services.
More people have returned to work, but the region has shrinking pool of workers.
“What we’re seeing is a gradual recovery in the labor market, but employment is still down by about 3% since before the pandemic,” Faucher said.
“And that’s because we have a structurally smaller labor force post-pandemic than pre-pandemic,” he said. “Pittsburgh has an older population. Maybe they haven’t recovered from covid or maybe they stayed out of the workforce, but we have fewer people in the labor force. That makes it difficult for employers in the area.”
Faucher pointed out that the region’s population has been on the decline for a couple of decades.
“Getting more people to come into the area has been difficult for Pittsburgh,” he said. “Until we get that fixed, we’re going to see weaker employment numbers relative to the rest of the country.”
Stephanie Ritenbaugh is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Stephanie at sritenbaugh@triblive.com.