‘A very severe problem’: Allegheny County saw thousands of jobs lost over past 5 years

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — Data compiled from state and federal agencies shows Allegheny County failing when it comes to jobs and the economy.

Jeff Nobers, the Executive Director of Pittsburgh Works Together, says from 2017-2022, Allegheny County saw a loss of 50,000 jobs. This is a trend that wasn’t seen anywhere else in the state.

“It’s becoming a very severe problem for the county,” Nobers tells Channel 11. “You lose those jobs, you lose the people, then it becomes difficult to attract new jobs.  You either get more people in jobs to expand the revenue base or raise taxes.”

Nobers says Allegheny County is the only county in the state that lost jobs from 2017 to 2022. Those losses were in tourism, hospitality and manufacturing.  While Philadelphia grew jobs over the same period, the data shows job loss in Allegheny County was five times as bad as Ohio’s worst performing county, Cuyahoga County, where Cleveland is.

We asked Nobers why the loss of jobs. He says there’s really no one reason and some of this is decades in the making, going back to the collapse of the steel industry and migration of people.

“We were one of the few counties - top 50 - that had more deaths than births from 2010 to 2020,” Nobers tells Channel 11.  “Younger folks are also moving out, leaving a larger, aging population behind.”

Pittsburgh Works Together wants neighbors to be informed, know these stats and encourage elected officials to make an effort to reverse the trends.

“Whoever is elected to the County Executive for the next four years, in our opinion, this is going to be one of the more significant things they face,” Nobers added.

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