Regional job growth numbers were mixed Unemployment rates in the Syracuse, Utica–Rome, Watertown-Fort Drum, Binghamton, and Elmira regions declined in May compared to a year ago, while the jobless rate in the Ithaca area was unchanged. The figures were part of the latest New York State Department of […]
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Regional job growth numbers were mixed
Unemployment rates in the Syracuse, Utica–Rome, Watertown-Fort Drum, Binghamton, and Elmira regions declined in May compared to a year ago, while the jobless rate in the Ithaca area was unchanged.
The figures were part of the latest New York State Department of Labor data released on June 25.
On the job-growth front, the Syracuse, Watertown–Fort Drum, Ithaca, and Elmira regions gained jobs between May 2018 and this past May.
Bucking the trend, the Utica–Rome and Binghamton areas lost jobs in the same period.
That’s according to the latest monthly employment report that the New York State Department of Labor issued June 20.
Regional unemployment rates
The jobless rate in the Syracuse area was 3.7 percent in May, down from 3.9 percent in May 2018.
In the other CNY areas, the unemployment rate in the Utica–Rome region fell to 3.9 percent from 4 percent; in the Watertown–Fort Drum area, it dipped to 4.5 percent from 4.8 percent; the rate fell in the Binghamton region to 3.9 percent from 4.2 percent; it was unchanged in the Ithaca metro area at 3.2 percent; and the rate fell in the Elmira region to 3.8 percent from 4.4 percent in the year-earlier period.
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 unemployment rate rose from 3.9 percent to 4.0 percent in May. The state unemployment rate was higher than the U.S. unemployment rate of 3.6 percent in that month.
The May statewide unemployment figure of 4 percent was down from 4.2 percent in May 2018, according to department figures.
“The slowdown this month in New York State’s labor market reflects the weak national jobs report in May, as private-sector payrolls in the U.S. increased by less than 100,000, when a gain of 200,000 is more typical. The state’s monthly jobs data can be volatile and are subject to revision as more information becomes available. As a result, it is necessary to observe several months of data before establishing a trend,” the state Labor Department noted in its June 20 report.
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.
May jobs data
The Syracuse region gained 6,200 jobs in the past year, up 1.9 percent.
The Utica–Rome area lost 900 jobs, a decrease of 0.7 percent; the Binghamton region shed 800 jobs, a decline of 0.8 percent; the Watertown–Fort Drum area gained 300 jobs, an increase of 0.7 percent; the Ithaca region picked up 1,600 positions, a rise of 2.4 percent; and the Elmira area added 100 jobs, up 0.3 percent.
New York state as a whole gained more than 95,000 jobs, an increase of 1.0 percent, in that 12-month period. The state economy lost nearly 14,000 jobs, a 0.1 percent dip, in May compared to April, the labor department said.