University Times

Pittsburgh and Allegheny County had the fourth highest rates of black poverty among America's 50 largest cities in 1990, according to a Pitt report published last week.

The report, "Economic Benchmarks," was compiled by the University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR) for use by community leaders, elected officials and other decision-makers.

"Economic Benchmarks" compares economic indicators of the 50 largest U.S. cities and counties as ranked by 1990 population.

"Since 1987, the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County have experienced improvement in many economic conditions" but economic problems persist, according to the report. "The most serious problem by far is the extremely poor economic conditions of blacks, which are worse here than in nearly all of the other 50 largest cities and counties in the U.S." The UCSUR study found that in 1990, the city's unemployment rate for blacks was 18.9 percent and 6.4 percent for whites, the fourth highest racial disparity in unemployment among the 50 cities. The county unemployment rate for black males was 16.7 percent that year, comparied with 5.2 percent for whites.

In 1989, the income of nearly 41 percent of blacks in the city fell below the poverty level compared with 14 percent of whites. The corresponding rates for the county were 36 percent and 8 percent. For both the city and county, those numbers represent the fourth highest black poverty rates and racial disparities in poverty levels among the 50 cities.

Pittsburgh had the eighth lowest black standard of living among the 50 cities, the study found. In 1989, per capita personal income of blacks was only about half that of whites. In the city, blacks averaged $7,311 while whites averaged $14,540. In the county, blacks averaged $8,365 while whites averaged $15,983.

Additional negative economic indicators, as reported in "Economic Benchmarks," included the following:

* Highest statewide maximum corporate income tax rate. Pennsylvania's rate dropped from 12.25 percent to 11.99 percent this year, but this had little effect on the state's poor ranking. Small businesses, however, pay a very low rate of 2.8 percent.

* Third highest residential electric rate. Compared with median electric rates for the 50 largest cities, the Pittsburgh residential rate (12.6 cents per kilowatt-hour) is 54 percent above the median of 8.2 cents. The commercial rate (8.8 cents) is 24 percent above the median of 7.1 cents. The industrial rate (6.4 cents) is 21 percent above the median of 5.3 cents.

* Fifth highest percentage population loss from 1987 to 1992. The county lost 2 percent of its population, while population increased in the United States.

Among the positive benchmarks:

* Second highest percentage increase in personal income per capita from 1987 to 1992 (county). Of the 14.4 percent increase in real per capita personal income in Allegheny County, 9 percent was from gains in earnings, 3.8 percent was from transfer payments, and 1.6 percent was from dividends and interest.

* Second highest city and county commercial bank deposits per capita — $12,972 in the city and $16,660 in the county.

* Third lowest city school dropout rate. The U.S. average dropout rate was 12.1 percent in 1990, higher than the city's rate of 8.7 percent and the county's rate of 7 percent.

* Tenth highest university research and development expenditures. University R&D expenditures have increased more rapidly in the Pittsburgh area than in the rest of the country in the last seven years.

The UCSUR study also found that the number of public and private sector workers involved in labor-management disputes per 1,000 wage and salary workers in the metropolitan area is on par with the national average, debunking the notion that Pittsburgh is a "strike city." Total non-farm jobs as well as service industry jobs grew faster in Allegheny County than in the rest of the country from 1987 to 1990, UCSUR's study showed. However, manufacturing jobs were lost here at a much faster rate than in most other large metropolitan areas or in the United States as a whole.

In 1992, Allegheny County ranked in the top third among 41 of the largest counties in the United States for standard of living, the report noted. However, Pittsburgh's poverty rate was higher than in most other large cities.