Moody's upgrades city's credit rating

The city remains below the levels it had in 2003.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Saying that the city has solved its most severe financial problems, Moody's Investors Service upgraded Pittsburgh's credit rating above non-investment grade Thursday.
It is the second time in three months that Moody's has bumped the city's credit rating upward, though it remains well below credit levels of late 2003, when Pittsburgh was declared a distressed community by the state.
"With substantial health care and educational sectors, large financial services activity and growth in high-tech industries, the city has been able to maintain an unemployment rate (3.7 percent in December, 2004) below state (5.1 percent) and national (5.1 percent) levels," Moody's wrote in its report. "A countywide property revaluation contributed to a 25 percent increase in the city's full valuation in 2001, resulting in almost $3 billion in additional value."
Moody's upgraded the city's credit rating to lower medium grade.
Not out of woods
But Moody's warned that challenges lie ahead this fiscal year.
The debt burden, nearly 10 percent of the city's $14.5 billion valuation, is cause for concern.
Moody's also said Pittsburgh's aggressive economic development efforts have been partly funded through the issuance of off-balance sheet debt with the Urban Redevelopment Authority as well as a joint venture with the Sports and Exhibition Authority.
Standard & amp; Poor's raised the city's rating one level above junk bond status in December. Fitch Ratings raised the city's overall outlook from negative to positive around the same time.
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