Unemployment rates in the Syracuse, Utica–Rome, Watertown–Fort Drum, Binghamton, and Elmira regions remained in single-digit figures in October but were significantly higher than a year ago amid the COVID-19 pandemic’s negative effects on business. The figures are part of the latest New York State Department of Labor data released Nov. 24. On the job-growth front, the […]
Unemployment rates in the Syracuse, Utica–Rome, Watertown–Fort Drum, Binghamton, and Elmira regions remained in single-digit figures in October but were significantly higher than a year ago amid the COVID-19 pandemic’s negative effects on business.
The figures are part of the latest New York State Department of Labor data released Nov. 24.
On the job-growth front, the Syracuse region lost jobs in five-digit figures between October 2019 and this past October. The Utica–Rome, Binghamton, Watertown–Fort Drum, Ithaca, and Elmira areas shed jobs in four-digit figures in the same period.
That’s according to the latest monthly employment report that the New York State Department of Labor issued Nov. 19.
Regional unemployment rates
The jobless rate in the Syracuse area was 6.4 percent in October, up from 3.9 percent in October 2019.
The Utica–Rome region’s rate rose to 6.2 percent from 3.9 percent; the Watertown–Fort Drum area’s number hit 5.8 percent, up from 4.9 percent; the Binghamton region came in at 6.1 percent, up from 4.2 percent; the Ithaca area’s rate was 4.6 percent, up from 3.6 percent a year ago; and the Elmira region’s number rose to 6.5 percent in October from 4 percent in the same month a year ago, per the state Labor Department.
The local-unemployment data isn’t seasonally adjusted, meaning the figures don’t reflect seasonal influences such as holiday hires. The unemployment rates are calculated following procedures prescribed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the state Labor Department said.
State unemployment rate
New York state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged down from 9.7 percent in September to 9.6 percent in October but remained well above the 3.9 percent jobless rate in October 2019.
The 9.6 percent number was also higher than the U.S. unemployment rate of 6.9 percent in October.
The federal government calculates New York’s unemployment rate partly based upon the results of a monthly telephone survey of 3,100 state households that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics conducts.
October jobs data
The Syracuse region lost nearly 35,000 jobs in the past year, a decline of 10.6 percent.
The Utica–Rome metro area lost more than 9,000 jobs, a decrease of about 7 percent; the Watertown–Fort Drum region shed more than 3,000 jobs, a decrease of about 9 percent; the Binghamton area lost 6,700 jobs, a decline of about 6 percent; the Ithaca region lost 2,500 jobs, a drop of 3.8 percent; and the Elmira area shed 1,500 jobs in the past year, a decrease of 4.0 percent.
New York state as a whole lost more than 1 million jobs, a decrease of 10 percent, in that 12-month period. The state economy gained more than 10,000 jobs, a 0.1 percent increase, from September to October of this year, the Labor Department said.
