Forbes names Pittsburgh a top city for job growth in 2009 (Dallas: find a job, college)

[dugdogmaster]

http://http://www.popcitymedia.com/inthenews/pittsburghishiring0107.aspx (http://http//www.popcitymedia.com/inthenews/pittsburghishiring0107.aspx - broken link)

January 5, 2009
Forbes names Pittsburgh a top city for job growth in 2009

Source: Forbes.com (http://www.forbes.com/leadership/2009/01/05/cities-jobs-employment-leadership-careers-cx_tw_0105cities.html - broken link)


A new Forbes list names Pittsburgh one of the top ten U.S. cities for job growth in 2009.

The Forbes rankings are based on Ajilon Professional Staffing's list of top 10 cities to find a job. To compile the list, Ajilon's researchers examined the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Metropolitan Area Jobs Report to find the cities with the lowest unemployment rate and highest number of new jobs created in the previous six months. They then combined that data with other evidence from their offices throughout the country to discover why these cities have the best job situations.

The entire article from Forbes: Ten Cities For Job Growth In 2009 - Forbes.com (http://www.forbes.com/leadership/2009/01/05/cities-jobs-employment-leadership-careers-cx_tw_0105cities.html - broken link)

[drshang]

I think Pittsburgh will certainly handle the recession better than most cities, but this list is pretty poor IMO. The whole list is cities with large amounts of government, educational and health care centered economies which always have artificially low unemployment rates due to the nature of those industries never needing to lay people off since they aren't cyclical. But low unemployment does not mean there are lots of jobs nor does it mean it's easy to find a job. It simply means that people who have jobs aren't losing them, which is completely separate from growth and "difficulty in finding a job."

[Katarina Witt]

^^^I agree. That's what I thought when I saw that list. Dallas and Houston I can see, but Madison and Milwaukee? Madison is a college/government town, and Milwaukee is another rust-belt city that happens to have the stats to make the list.

These Forbes lists are always strange.

[dugdogmaster]

The list is about job growth, in which goverment, educational and medical jobs are major factors.

[drshang]

Originally Posted by dugdogmaster

The list is about job growth, in which goverment, educational and medical jobs are major factors.

Then why is it ordered by unemployment rate? The list says it's about job growth but the rankings are inverse unemployment rate. If the list was truely about job growth then there should be some kind of job growth statistics relative to the size of each metro area.

[dugdogmaster]

Originally Posted by drshang

Then why is it ordered by unemployment rate? The list says it's about job growth but the rankings are inverse unemployment rate. If the list was truely about job growth then there should be some kind of job growth statistics relative to the size of each metro area.

I don't know, take it up with Forbes

[Pitt Chick]

Originally Posted by Pitts64

But it says nothing about the long, bitter, grey, depressingly cold winters here.......

Maybe that's because not every thinks the winters are long, bitter, gray and depressing.
And winter is supposed to be cold.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Pitts64

But it says nothing about the long, bitter, grey, depressingly cold winters here.......

Originally Posted by Pitt Chick

Maybe that's because not every thinks the winters are long, bitter, gray and depressing.
And winter is supposed to be cold.

There is no doubt that the winters are grey. Long, bitter and depressingly cold are in the eye of the beholder.

Originally Posted by Pitts64

Well what about the high murder rate and the Ravenstahl/UMPC/mob machine?

All of the above show that Forbes' lists are very superficial. They don't look at the whole city, they just look at one stat. I guess that's why they ALL seem so lame to me.

[deathegg88]

When living in Pittsburgh, you have to expect that the winters are going to be cold and grey, but it doesn't have to be depressing if you find a way to enjoy the weather you are experiencing.

Also if you don't like the "long, bitter, grey, depressingly long winters".... there are other places to live that have sunshine and warmth in the wintertime.

[PeterRabbit]

Forbes has more lists than Carter has pills. Every city should make one of their lists at least twice a year. It's how Forbes believes it keeps itself popular regardless of the joke it's become. They are never to be taken seriously. If you need a lot of attention start making Internet lists.