UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An analysis of employment change in the state since 2001 suggests the existence of "two Pennsylvanias" during the period from 2001 to 2017, according to economists in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
The newly released report — "Pennsylvania Employment on the Move: 2001-17" — graphically describes the rapidly changing geography of resident employment and unemployment during the 2001-08 and 2008-16 business cycles and in the post-recovery period of 2014-17. The data show a sharp divide between southeastern Pennsylvania, with mainly job growth, and the rest of the state, with primarily job decline.
The 2001-08 business cycle included a mild recession in 2001-02, and the 2008-16 business cycle was marked by the Great Recession of 2008-10, which was long and deep.
Using local area employment statistics from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, the report identifies "winners and losers" among the state's 67 counties, 19 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), 16 Micropolitan Statistical Areas and 15 Small Center Areas. These designations are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.
"The aim of the report is to promote public awareness of the wide swings in employment growth and decline within Pennsylvania since 2001," said co-author Ted Alter, professor of agricultural, environmental and regional economics. "We do not offer policy prescriptions, but we hope the report can inform policymaking at the local and state levels."
Alter noted that economic trends often are discussed in aggregate terms.
"But statewide trends in employment miss the diversity of local change occurring across the state," he said. "What you see statewide is seldom the case locally."
Regionally, the economists said, the big employment winner during 2001-17 was southeastern Pennsylvania, including the Philadelphia MSA and eight other MSAs located mainly south and east of Interstate 78 and Interstate 81. This region enjoyed employment growth during both the 2001-08 and 2008-16 business cycles. In contrast, the rest of the state had a wide mix of slow job growth and decline during 2001-08, and widespread decline from 2008 to 2016.