Pennsylvania adds 19,500 jobs in May, second only to Texas

[Craziaskowboi]

I have an idea: let's **** all over Pennsylvania for being like all 49 other states!

I'm sure Texas added a lot of Census and stimulus jobs too.

[Duderino]

Jeez. The negative Nancies are out in full force for this thread.

Of course, a lot of the hiring is due to the Census, but -- as other have noted -- that is the case in every other state, too. Not to mention, there are MANY more Census workers in more populated states like California, New York and Florida; yet we still managed to beat them in job growth for May.

Perhaps (and I know this will come as a huge surprise to those whose brains begin to malfunction upon hearing any positive press for PA) Pennsylvania's economy is actually faring pretty well compared to most of the rest of the country right now.

[firefightermom]

It's great that people are getting jobs, but I think the stimulus numbers are padded with all the temporary jobs out there. PA of course isn't the only state with temp jobs. Amusement parks can count hires as new employees, even when people worked there the previous summer, and so can nurseries, orchards, etc. All these jobs would have existed without the stimulus, so they shouldn't be counted, IMO.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by Little Bevis

Either way, trying to get get everyone to work for $10 an hour isn't going to put food on the table or get the economy started when it costs $14 a hour to live in Pittsburgh.

It does NOT cost $14 an hour to live in Pittsburgh. I started at 12 an hour in my current position and have had much MORE than enough, not only to be able to purchase my house (cash, from savings I made while living in a studio flat in Shadyside), but also to enjoy a very high quality of living and have money in the bank.

I used to work at Wal-Mart part-time. I made 7.65 an hour without benefits. Now that was a meager wage. However, I still managed to pay my bills and live (on my own) in a studio apartment in Forest Hills. That apartment was $325 including utilities. But it was tough, and if I had gotten sick who knows what would have happened.

Anything over $10 an hour is plenty of money in Pittsburgh -- if you are single and have benefits. Anything less is stretching it (but can probably be done if you are thrifty).

[numberman]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

Rendell said about 3,100 of the new jobs in May are related to census work.

?

Check this out.

http://www.paworkstats.state.pa.us/newsrel/PA_news_rel.pdf (broken link)

It says a 14K increase in federal jobs in PA in May. That is a lot more than 3100, which is actually the increase in federal jobs in April.

[Mr Yuk]

If Rendell says it, I wouldn't necessarily believe it. Besides, how many of those jobs involve saying "would you like fries with that?" or "would you like to supersize for an extra 69 cents?"

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by go phillies

If Rendell says it, I wouldn't necessarily believe it. Besides, how many of those jobs involve saying "would you like fries with that?" or "would you like to supersize for an extra 69 cents?"

About the same proportion as 49 other states.

[Icy Tea]

A lot of those jobs were government census and temp jobs, unfortunately. It's not terrible news, not good news.
Maybe treading water economically isn't so bad. At least Pa isn't California, Nevada or Michigan.