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Economy of Pittsburgh

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Main article: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The skyline of Pittsburgh displaying the tallest buildings.Wikipeder.

The economy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is diversified, focused on services, medicine, higher education, tourism, banking, corporate headquarters and high technology. Once the center of the American steel industry, and still known as "The Steel City," today the city of Pittsburgh has no steel mills.

Pittsburgh was recently chosen for the 2009 G-20 summit as its transformation is an example of a twenty first century economy. On September 8, 2009 President Barack Obama stated, "Pittsburgh stands as a bold example of how to create new jobs and industries while transitioning to a 21st century economy."[1]

On the most recent list of best cities for job growth in 2009, created by Tara Weiss a writer for Forbes magazine, Pittsburgh secured its spot because of its strength in the health care and education industries with healthy foundations in technology or robotics and banking industries.[2] The most recent list of all cities places Pittsburgh as the 169th best city for job growth.[3]

Also, Pittsburgh ranked in the top five Most Livable Cities in the 1983, 1985, 1989 and 2007 editions of the "Places Rated Almanac." [4]


History

Main article: History of Pittsburgh

Early Foundation

During the 18th century large coal deposits were discovered throughout Pittsburgh. Mt. Washington, originally called "Coal Hill" “most valuable deposit of bituminous coal in the entire United States, was discovered there in 1760”.[14] Along with the natural resources of the area, Pittsburgh was located at the intersection of the Monongahela, Ohio, and Allegheny Rivers, that is, along the major trade routes of the United States. Thus, making Pittsburgh "one of the world's leading industrial powerhouses".[15]

Nineteenth Century

Pittsburgh’s wealthiest industrialists during the 1800s all lived in a single neighborhood known as East Liberty. The major list of industrialists include H.J. Heinz, George Westinghouse, Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Mellon, Henry Clay Frick and Philander Knox. All of these men shared similar ideas in the system of capitalism and utilized their skills to net the world’s highest income per capita during the 1800’s in this single neighborhood. [16] Andrew Carnegie was also known as a philanthropist to the region. “In 1889 he wrote The Gospel of Wealth, in which he asserted that all personal wealth beyond that required to supply the needs of one's family should be regarded as a trust fund to be administered for the benefit of the community”.[17] Subsequently, the Carnegie Library, which is free to the public, opened in Pittsburgh in 1890 and is still open presently.[18] Overall, Carnegie donated over $350 million for the establishment of organizations that benefit the public. [19]

Railroads were developed in the Pittsburgh region during the mid 1800s. The Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad opened in 1851, which allowed passengers to travel through Allegheny and New Brighton. A year later, in 1852, the Pennsylvania Railroad was completed and offered transportation to and from Philadelphia. In 1856, the Allegheny Valley Railroad was built. [20] [21]

In 1892, the economy of Pittsburgh faced the Homestead Strike between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the Carnegie Steel Company. After the worker's previous wage contract expired in 1892, and a new negotiation was not reached a violent conflict ensued leaving several dead and wounded. Ultimately, The Carnegie Steel company won and had avoided union formation in Pittsburgh.[22]

Twentieth Century

In the 1900s the economy of Pittsburgh was primarily driven by the steel industry. In 1901, The Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers organized a general strike against the U.S. Steel Corporation subsidiaries, causing the first strike since 1892.[23]

Pittsburgh produced around one third of the national output of steel by the 1920s. During this time period Pittsburgh was home to the world's largest tube and pipe mill, structural steel plant, rail mill, wire manufacturing plant, bridge and construction fabricating plant.[24] "Boat building and metal industries were later the economic base of the region. When coke from coal began to replace charcoal from wood in iron and steel making Pittsburgh grew up as the heart of the industry. A plentiful supply of bituminous coal underlies the Pittsburgh area."[25] Around forty percent of the nation's coal was obtained from within 100 miles of Pittsburgh.[24]

Due to the reforms of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, steel unions gained success in Pittsburgh. The Wagner Act of 1935 gave employees rights to self-organize in labor unions and made it unlawful for employers to prevent or interfer with such unions.[26]

However in the 1970s the steel industry collapsed leaving half of the nation's steelworkers unemployed.[27]

Transition into the Present Economy

Within the transitional years between 1970-1990 Pittsburgh SMSA saw shifts in their main employers, which were the manufacturing sector. In 1970 1 out of every 3 jobs was in the manufacturing sector. By 1980 this has slipped to 1 and 4. In 1980 the average production worker in manufacturing was making $360.89 weekly which was almost $70 dollar more than the state and national average. During this time period the largest group of occupational employment was blue collar. This group in 1980 accounted for almost 68 percent of the jobs market. In the 1980’s was expected that a decline of the manufacturing business was going to happen. The excepted trend was that Pittsburgh would follow towards “industrial robots.” Since 1955 Pittsburgh has seen a steady decline in manufacturing employment, In 1955 Pittsburgh has a population of 41.8 percent in the manufactory business. In 1980 that number had slipped to almost 25.3 percent.[28]

Allegheny County is the center for health care and higher education employment. JHigher education and health care were the biggest creators of high wage jobs in the Pittsburgh region between the six years of 1999 and 2005. Education jobs account for almost 80% of high wage jobs in Allegheny County. Pittsburgh is not only home to the health care and education industries for high wage jobs, but Pittsburgh has seen the growth in other sectors as well. Professional services, finance and wholesale trade were among the growing sectors in this area. However, much of this growth was seen outside the borders of Allegheny County. This was detrimental to the county of Allegheny; however the growth in the outer nine counties helped to stabilize the loss of employment. With big events happening in Pittsburgh throughout the late 2000’s, tourism industry has flourished. The industry has created over 11,000 new jobs in the area, some 6,000 of them to be within Allegheny County .[29]

Present Economy

"Total nonfarm employment, over-the-year percent change in the United States and the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, March 1999-2009"

[30]

The following is a list of the top 10 private employers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[31]

Rank Employer Number of Pittsburgh employees Product(s)
1 University of Pittsburgh Medical Center 47,000 Health Care
2 West Penn Allegheny Health System 11,000 Health Care
3 University of Pittsburgh 11,000 Higher Education
4 Giant Eagle 10,000 Supermarkets
5 PNC Financial Services 8,000 Financial Services
6 Bank of New York Mellon Corporation 6,900 Financial Services
7 Highmark 5,000 Health Insurance
8 FedEx Corporation 5,000 Transportation
9 U.S. Steel 4,900 Steel Manufacturing
10 Carnegie Mellon University 4,700 Higher Education


Twenty First Century Progression

The shifting economy of Pittsburgh has seen changes since the 1990’s; these are primarily in banking, healthcare and technology. However, In December of 2004, Pittsburgh was forced into a Act 47 because the finances in the city were down. In January 2003 Pittsburgh’s unemployment rate reached 6.8%, but has seen a major decline in, as in April of 2005 the rates were near only 4.8%.[36] Since 1 in every five jobs in Pittsburgh lies within the health care service, Pittsburgh was able to to hold steady during the recent economic downturn.[37][38] During this, the city also began to see growth in other occupations such as the business service and construction. The business service sectors in the 2008 year saw an increase of over 3,000 jobs. During the downturn, Pittsburgh still developed many parts of the city creating over 1,000 construction jobs in the region.[39]

2009 G-20 Pittsburgh Summit

Main article: 2009 G-20 Pittsburgh summit

Pittsburgh was chosen to hold to 2009 G-20 summit for multiple reasons. Pittsburgh utilizes its past by building on previous successes in manufacturing, business services, and green energy. "Pittsburgh manufacturers employ almost 100,000 workers and the region is the second-largest market in the United States for metals industry employment."[40] Pittsburgh is also home to some of the worlds largest business and financial services,which supply the greatest amount to the regional economic output. In the past, innovation in energy has been advanced through commercialization of oil, coal, and natural gas. More focus and attention is being given to the innovation in sustainability and efficiency while protecting the environment as Pittsburgh has more than 30 LEED certified buildings.[40]

References

Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Occupational Employment and Wages in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, May 2007

  1. ^ Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Barack Obama, [1]Statement by the President on G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh.The White House: Office of the Press Secretary, Retrieved 2009-09-08
  2. ^ [2] name=Tara Weiss "Ten Cities For Job Growth In 2009" 'Forbes.com' January 5, 2009
  3. ^ [3]"All Cities Rankings - 2009 New Geography Best Cities for Job Growth" 'New Geography'
  4. ^ [4], "Information about Pittsburgh".
  5. ^ http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/employers/Major_Pittsburgh_Employers_Companies.htm
  6. ^ "UPMC Fast Facts" UPMC
  7. ^ Giant Eagle, "Corporate Overview" [5] 2009
  8. ^ "Top 50: Biggest local private companies play high-profile role in region", April 09, 2002 [6]
  9. ^ Hoovers. "West Penn Allegheny Health System Company Description"
  10. ^ Business Times. "West Penn Allegheny Health System lays off employees" July 9, 2009[7]
  11. ^ Hoovers. "University of Pittsburgh Company Description"
  12. ^ Post-Gazette. "Top 50: Biggest local private companies play high-profile role in region" April 09, 2002 [8]
  13. ^ Hoovers. "PNC Financial Services Company Description"
  14. ^ Hazo, Samuel. The Pittsburgh That Starts with You. 1986. p. 15
  15. ^ http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Pittsburgh:Pennsylvania.htm
  16. ^ Skrabec, Jr., Quentin (2009). H.J. Heinz: a biography. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-7864-4178-5. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  17. ^ http://www.carnegie.org/sub/about/biography.html
  18. ^ http://www.wqed.org/education/pghist/units/WPAhist/keyevents.html
  19. ^ http://www.carnegie.org/sub/about/biography.html
  20. ^ http://www.wqed.org/education/pghist/units/WPAhist/keyevents.html
  21. ^ http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/Pittsburgh-History.html
  22. ^ Goldner, Cheri. "The Homestead Strike 1892" Spring, 1997 [9]
  23. ^ Historic Pittsburgh. "Chronology by Decade: 1900 - 1909"
  24. ^ a b Watkins, Thayer."The History of the Economy of Pittsburgh" [10], .
  25. ^ United States History: 1877 to the Present
  26. ^ U.S. Government. "The Wagner Act of 1935" Published in 1935
  27. ^ Woolcock, Stephen. "The International Politics of Trade and Production in the Steel Industry" ISBN 0865980403, 9780865980402 [11]
  28. ^ Pennsylvania. Office of Employment Security.(1982). Harrisburg : Pennsylvania Dept. of Labor and Industry, Office of Employment Security.
  29. ^ Pittsburgh's Future. "State of the Economy in Pittsburgh"[12], .
  30. ^ name=United States Department of Labor: Bureau of Labor Satistics, "PITTSBURGH METROPOLITAN AREA JOB COUNT: MARCH 2009" [13]
  31. ^ 'Allegheny County Department of Economic Development, PRA '[14] April 2009
  32. ^ [[https://www.pnc.com/webapp/unsec/Requester?resource=/wps/wcm/connect/e63706004e5c67d3851f87fc6d630ad7/Pittsburgh_Oct09.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=e63706004e5c67d3851f87fc6d630ad7, "Pittsburgh Market Outlook".
  33. ^ "Filmography". Pittsburgh Film Office. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  34. ^ "State of Pittsburgh Economy".
  35. ^ [15], "Occupational employment and wages in Pittsburgh" United States Department of Labor.
  36. ^ City Data.com , "Pittsburgh: Economy" Allegheny County Department of Economic Development.[16]
  37. ^ Streitfeld, David (2009-01-07). "For Pittsburgh, There's Life After Steel". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  38. ^ "MetroMonitor: Tracking Economic Recession and Recovery in America's 100 Largest Metropolitan Areas". Brookings Institution. 2009-09. Retrieved 2009-11-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  39. ^ [17], "Pittsburgh's Future: Why is the Economy doing Better than the Rest of the Country?".
  40. ^ a b Name=Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, [18]

Top Ten Employers in the Pittsburgh Region

G-20 Pittsburgh Summit 2009: Pittsburgh News and Blog Posts

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