University Times

Citing a need to focus regularly on the evolving economy of the Pittsburgh region, Pitt's University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR) has introduced the Pittsburgh Economic Quarterly (PEQ).

PEQ is a newsletter highlighting important economic trends affecting the regional economy and the competitiveness of local industries. The first issue was published in June, the second in September. PEQ's audience consists primarily of local economic development experts, elected officials and selected individuals in academe.

"We feel Pitt has a role in providing information to the region," said Chris Briem, UCSUR research associate and PEQ editor. "There is a lot of change going on in this area, and economic development is a crucial part of that change. We are attempting to fill what we see as a void in economic information available. The main idea is to put in a more readily available format a lot of essential information that is out there but not necessarily easy to get, such as census data that is buried in large data sets or difficult to retrieve from CDs or the Web."

According to Briem, each issue will include the latest data on regional employment and economic conditions. Issues that have been or will be examined include migration of residents, the impact of the airline industry on the local economy and the changing workforce in western Pennsylvania.

"In the second issue, I have started what I hope will be a continuing series on the technical aspects of economic impact analysis," Briem said. "Public officials always talk about the economic impact of various investments. The goal of this series is to educate the public on the core issues of that type of analysis."

Briem said future issues will explore municipal-level population growth rates for the region, the impact of local growth on the environment and land-use planning, and local industries that produce goods for export.

For more information, contact UCSUR at 624-5442. The publication's e-mail address is peq@pitt.edu