New York state’s unemployment rate rose 0.1 percent to 7.6 percent in August from July due to an “expanding work force,” according to preliminary figures the New York State Department of Labor released on Thursday.

However, the state’s August jobless rate is down 1 percent from the same month a year ago, the state Labor Department said in a news release.

New York’s labor force grew by 24,500 in August as more New Yorkers “had confidence” about finding a job, the state Labor Department contends.

In areas of the state outside of New York City, which includes all of Upstate and Long Island, the unemployment rate rose to 6.9 percent in August from 6.8 percent in July. But the August figure is down more than 1 percent compared to the year-earlier period.

The state’s economy added 22,700 private-sector jobs in August, representing a growth rate of 0.3 percent, the state Labor Department reported.

The figure raised New York’s private-sector job count to more than 7.4 million, “an all-time high,” the department said.

By way of comparison, the nation’s private-sector job count grew 0.1 percent in August.

On a year-over-year basis, New York reported a net gain of 120,400 total jobs between August 2012 and August 2013, a gain of 1.4 percent. The state gained more than 126,000 private-sector jobs in the same 12-month period, an increase of 1.7 percent, according to the state Labor Department.

Educational and health services added the most jobs statewide, 40,500, over the last year. The leisure and hospitality sector was second in the category, adding 30,000 positions.

Positions in the professional and business-service sector were third on the list, adding 28,700 positions. The trade, transportation, and utilities sector followed, adding 25,800 jobs.

The manufacturing sector led the way in job losses, declining by 11,100, in the last year, according to the state Labor Department.

Monthly payroll employment estimates are preliminary and subject to revision as more information becomes available the following month. For July 2013, the statewide private sector employment estimate was revised slightly upward.

CNY regional data

The Syracuse area generated a net gain of 3,100 total nonfarm jobs between August 2012 and this August, an increase of 1 percent, according to the state Labor Department data. The region gained 2,500 private-sector jobs in the same period, a rise of 1.1 percent.

The Ithaca region added 1,000 total nonfarm jobs year-over-year, an increase of 1.6 percent. Ithaca’s private-sector employers added 800 jobs between August 2012 and August 2013, an increase of 1.5 percent.

In the Utica–Rome metro region, the state figures indicate a year-over-year net gain of 900 total nonfarm jobs, or 0.7 percent. The region also gained 1,100 private-sector jobs, a 1.1 percent increase, in the same 12-month period.

The Binghamton area saw a year-over-year net decline of 400 nonfarm jobs, or a 0.4 percent decrease. In the same time period, the region’s private-sector employers added 900 jobs, an increase of 1.1 percent between last August and this past August.

The state’s private-sector job count is based on a payroll survey of 18,000 New York employers that the U.S. Department of Labor conducts.

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.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com