Although Pittsburgh has been hit hard by the recessionary conditions that have enveloped the entire country, it has not suffered as much as most other metro areas. 

This observation is based on the fact that while employment for the country as a whole has dropped by 4.1% year over year, the Steel City’s workforce has contracted by a more modest 2.7%, which is less than all but nine of the 50 largest metro areas in the U.S.

Pittsburgh was highlighted in the Brookings Institute’s Metro Monitor, a recently released “interactive barometer of the health of America’s metropolitan economies.” 

According to the Brookings analysis, the Pittsburgh housing market has been much less exposed to the subprime mortgage crisis than other U.S. metro areas. As a result, house prices have increased by 2% year over year compared to a 6% year over year decline for the nation as a whole. 

Given that the Pittsburgh economy has not contracted as much as most other metro areas, and that its consumers are in much better financial health, it is not surprising that the metro area is starting to recover more quickly than most others.

This improvement is reflected by the most recent Q3/09 Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, which reported that hiring plans have increased in construction, wholesale and retail trade, information services, health and education services and leisure and hospitality services.

Looking forward, the upcoming G-20 economic summit in September will give Pittsburgh’s profile a major boost both nationally and around the world.

It will illustrate how a metro area that once relied on heavy industry is now dependent on “ed and med” (education and medical technology industries).

This transformation has been facilitated by Pittsburgh’s affordable lifestyle, its central and accessible location, and, of course, the fact that its football team has won the Superbowl a record number of times.