WaPo's Ignatius in need of PA economic lessons

In today's Washington Post, David Ignatius warns the Democratic candidates against talking about the "future more as a threat than an as opportunity." Ignatius writes that "such radical pessimism about the U.S. economy is a mistake, at least over the long run -- and there's no state in the country that proves the optimists' case about America better than Pennsylvania."

Ignatius cites his past employment in Pennsylvania in 1976, when he covered the state's collapsing steel industry for the Wall Street Journal. He discusses rising employment in the state:

Employment in Pennsylvania reached an all-time high in January and then fell slightly in February. People here fear that a steep recession may be coming. But as of February, unemployment in the state was just 4.9 percent. Since January 2003, Pennsylvania has added 178,000 new jobs, according to the state government.

Where are all these new jobs coming from? The answer is that as the old rust-belt manufacturing industries sank, Pennsylvania became a platform for innovators in technology, finance and the health industry. What saved the state, above all, was its concentration of great universities, which provided the human capital for growth.

Ignatius fails to mention the state's top private employer: Wal-Mart. The corporate behemoth, according to the state government, is the largest private employer. Only the federal and state governments employ more state residents.