Pittsburgh still has heavy industry, benefiting from a post-recession revival in factory shipments to other US states and overseas. But Rust Belt no longer defines this city, which also gains significant economic activity from its universities and health-care industry.
Pennsylvania managed to avoid the steep rise in joblessness that hit a little further west, in places like Detroit, Cleveland, and Chicago. But to some extent, these old industrial cities have followed Pittsburgh’s pattern since the recession. Unemployment is falling in Cleveland and in Midwestern peers Indianapolis and Minneapolis, as well. Ditto for Detroit and Chicago, with a caveat: Joblessness remains at very high levels (12.5 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively) in those cities.
