Unfit for Work: The Startling Rise of Disability in America (Chana Joffe-Walt) from NPR's This American Life
"...people on disability don't show up in any of the places we usually look to see how the economy is doing. But the story of these programs -- who goes on them, and why, and what happens after that -- is, to a large extent, the story of the U.S. economy. It's the story not only of an aging workforce, but also of a hidden, increasingly expensive safety net."
Here's the This American Life program.  Here's a separate segment from All Things Considered.

REPORT!!

Pittsburgh Today Report Finds Population Shift as Young People Move to City from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
""Lawrenceville has changed drastically over the last 10 years," Ms. Byrne said. "Not all of the development has been as welcomed, but everybody seemed to be excited about the dry cleaner. That's the kind of business they want to see." The annual Pittsburgh Today report released last month, "Pittsburgh Today & Tomorrow 2013," highlighted Lawrenceville as a growing area experiencing a substantial shift in population as younger people move into the area. The study (available at pittsburghtoday.org) ranks Pittsburgh against 15 cities of similar size across the country."
The Pittsburgh Today report can be found HERE.

AT&T Plans to Close Pittsburgh Call Centers from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"Two Pittsburgh call centers for AT&T are set to lay off employees in the spring, according to media reports. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that 200 jobs are on the line with the changes at the centers, which were announced in a news release by the Communications Workers of America Local 13500."

Rust Belt Renaissance: The Future American City (Josef Goodman) from The Politic: The Yale Undergraduate Journal of Politics
"Faced with deindustrialization and demographic decline, Rust Belt cities looking to reverse their fortunes need look no further than Pittsburgh."

The Young People Myth (Jeffery Fraser) from the Pittsburgh Quarterly
'Just as Pittsburgh was undergoing a facelift that turned abandoned mills and factories and under-used riverfront into upscale shops, restaurants, apartments and bike trails, it was quietly experiencing a demographic shift that belied the hand wringing over whether it had become a place that young people would rather flee than want to be. Far fewer young people were leaving."

Health Care, Manufacturing Jobs Rise as U.S. Unemployment Falls from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The national unemployment rate ticked down slightly in February by one-tenth of a percentage point from 7.8 percent to 7.7 percent as the country added 236,000 new jobs."

PNC to Shut 200 Branches as Part of $700 Million in Cuts from the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"PNC Financial Services Group disclosed plans on Tuesday to close about 200 retail branches this year as part of a plan to reduce expenses by $700 million in a tough operating environment for banks. PNC spokeswoman Amy Vargo said it is too early to say how many Pittsburgh-area branches and jobs will be eliminated."

Youthful Lions Club Forms at Pitt from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 
"As a boy, Matt Bohince volunteered with the youth Leo Club sponsored by the Trafford Lions Club and helped in community projects, such as picking up litter and helping senior citizens. As a student at the University of Pittsburgh he wanted to continue making a difference in his community, so Mr. Bohince, 20, formed his own club. Sunday, the University of Pittsburgh Lions Club celebrated its chartering with a ceremony in the Pitt Student Union attended by 70. In addition, 23 of the new club's 35 members were installed."

REPORT!!

Your Culture is Valued Here: Lessons from the DHS Immigrants and Internationals Advisory Council from the Allegheny County Department of Human Services via Vibrant Pittsburgh
"Over the past several years, the Pittsburgh area’s resurgent economy has enhanced its attractiveness as a place in which to live and work. As a result, Allegheny County, which had not experienced the growth in diversity of other major American cities in recent decades, is beginning to attract increasing numbers of immigrants and internationals who are making the region their home. While this growth is still modest when compared to that of other major metropolitan areas, it is significant enough to be reversing the downward trend of past years."

Uncertain Job Prospects, Growing Student Debt Suppressing Applications to Law School from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Duquesne is hardly alone among law schools experiencing a dramatic decline in applicants. Nationwide, applications fell by nearly 11 percent in 2011 and by almost 14 percent in 2012, according to the Law School Admission Council, based in Bucks County. Despite those statistics and a legal job market that has been bleak since the economic crash of 2008, Mr. Gormley takes the approach that smaller enrollments and more specialized curriculums can benefit law schools and their students in the long run."

Single Moms Can Find Little Relief from Chronic Stress from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Stress is to single motherhood what mud is to rain and dirty dishes are to cooking, with more severe consequences. It's an expected but unwelcome consequence that must be cleaned up before it gets messy. Unfortunately, like a NASCAR driver, the single mother faces stress at every turn.

Auberle Employment Institute Helps At-risk Youths Build Foundations for Life from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Steadman and William Mitchell, 20, of the Hill District helped cut a path for a 10-foot-wide, two-mile trail for hiking and cross-country skiing at the garden, which is being developed on 460 acres of land, much of which was mined. Their work is part of a McKeesport-based nonprofit's year-old Employment Institute, which partners with private companies to provide at-risk youth with job skills. Auberle , a 61-year-old Catholic charity, created the institute about a year ago by pulling together several existing job-training programs."

Pittsburgh Promise Works to Bring College Grads Back Home from Imagine Pittsburgh Now
"With the Pittsburgh Promise now beginning its sixth year of offering college and technical school scholarships to city students, the nonprofit is also looking to bring those newly minted college grads back home – and to help connect them with some of the thousands of jobs available now in the Pittsburgh region. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently profiled efforts by the innovative program to assist its college and tech school grads with career fairs, interview trainings and networking opportunities, while the New Pittsburgh Courier highlighted a mentorship program of 150 African American male high school students interested in participating in the Pittsburgh Promise.  (Here’s another story about getting those students “Promise Ready.”)"

Pittsburgh Promise student Brianna Smith.

Pittsburgh Region Outpaces Nation, State in Opportunity; Labor Force Grows from Imagine Pittsburgh Now
"The 1980s and 1990s were very painful times here, but that’s changed for the Pittsburgh region overall. In the past several years, this has emerged as a place with a hardy, diversified economy, where more people are employed now than even during steel’s zenith. These reports underscore that new reality."

Marcellus Shale Industry Offers White Collar Work from WESA"s program, Allegheny Front
"The Marcellus shale gas boom has been changing the landscape of Pennsylvania for the last few years. But before every drill rig, well pad, or pipeline is constructed, another type of work must be completed. Paperwork. A day was spent with someone at the forefront of one part of the drilling boom. "

Pittsburgh Tech Salaries Fastest Growing in the Nation from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"We’ve already touched on how the talent wars in Pittsburgh are heating up, especially for technology talent, and now it looks like Pittsburgh’s tech professionals saw salaries increase at the fastest rate in the nation year-over-year."
The 'talent wars' article referenced here can be found HERE.

Pittsburgh's Job Creation Among U.S. Leaders from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"Pittsburgh's among only two cities in the East -- and No. 4 in the U.S. -- that have regained all of its private-sector employment following the recession in the latest On Numbers/Business Journals analysis of employment between November 2007 and November 2012."

EDITORIAL!!

Greater Promise: The City's Tuition Program Also Brings Youths Home from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"While the Promise's primary task is making sure the city's young people can afford college and are prepared for it, the organization's larger mission is reversing population decline in Pittsburgh and its public schools and developing a well-prepared work force. With a career workshop held for scholarship recipients last week, the Promise advanced that broader goal.

Hiring Disabled Levels Playing Field for Workforce Diversity from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"Pittsburgh has an assortment of leadership and human capital available to employers as they begin to explore and think outside the box. Individuals with disabilities have more of an opportunity to educate, prepare and showcase their talents now more than ever while providing insightful and realistic solutions, and information on universal issues."

Trying to Get a Foot in the Shale Industry from WESA's program, Allegheny Front
"While the gas boom has brought jobs to Pennsylvania, it has also created a paradox. Despite unemployment rates above 8 percent, many drilling jobs in the state go unfilled. One study found in Western Pennsylvania alone 2000 energy jobs would be hard to fill in the next few years."