Positive Migration Pittsburgh

The job numbers out today are disappointing. Meanwhile, the labor force numbers in Pittsburgh continue to look strong. Pittsburgh isn't just doing marginally better in a time of struggle. It is among the strongest job markets in the entire United States:

Need a job? Move to Oklahoma City if you're into open space. Or maybe Washington, DC, if you're a political nerd. Or, even New Orleans, if you'd like liberal open container laws.

This week the BLS released its analysis of the employment situation across Americas major metropolitan areas. I've broken down the ten big city regions faring best and the ten faring worst into the two graphs below.* First, here's where the job markets are relatively thriving. 

Pittsburgh is one of the ten big city regions faring best. Need a job? Move to Pittsburgh. Apparently, people are heeding the call:

The U.S. Census Bureau    uses a basic formula to determine migration patterns for metropolitan areas. It counts the number of people moving into a given market from anywhere else (whether another country, a different state or another part of the same state) and then subtracts the people who leave.

Miami-Fort Lauderdale emerged as the big winner with a migration surplus of 71,406 between July 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011, based on the Census Bureau's latest estimates. ...

... On Numbers used the Census Bureau's estimates to generate daily migration averages for all 366 metropolitan areas, which can be found in the following database. Use the tab to isolate the list to a single state, or merely hit the Search button to see everything at once.

Miami added 195.6 persons per day and topped the rankings. Chicago was dead last (#366) losing almost 81 people per day. Pittsburgh chimed in at 32nd best, netting a little over 14 migrants daily. That puts the metro in the top 10% for inmigration. That's a stunning turn of events. Rust Belt Pittsburgh is a hot destination.