Area jobless rates dip in April; job-growth data mixed

Unemployment rates in the Syracuse, Utica–Rome, Watertown-Fort Drum, Binghamton, Ithaca, and Elmira regions declined in April compared to a year ago.

The figures were part of the latest New York State Department of Labor data released May 21.

When it comes to job growth, the Syracuse, Binghamton, and Ithaca areas added positions between April 2018 and this past April. However, the Utica–Rome, Watertown–Fort Drum, and Elmira regions lost jobs in the same period.

That’s according to the latest monthly employment report that the New York State Department of Labor issued May 16.

Regional unemployment rates

The jobless rate in the Syracuse area was 3.7 percent in April, down from 4.4 percent in April 2018.

In the same period, the unemployment rate fell to 4.0 percent from 4.7 percent in the Utica–Rome region, to 5.3 percent from 6.1 percent in the Watertown–Fort Drum area, to 4 percent from 4.9 percent in the Binghamton region, to 3 percent from 3.6 percent in the Ithaca area, and to 3.8 percent from 4.7 percent in the Elmira region.

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 remained unchanged at 3.9 percent in April. The department noted that March’s previously announced preliminary unemployment rate of 4.0 percent was revised down to 3.9 percent in April. The latest state unemployment rate was higher than the U.S. unemployment rate of 3.6 percent in April.

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.

April jobs data

The Syracuse region gained 7,000 jobs in the past year, a 2.2 percent increase, per state Labor Department data.

The Utica–Rome metro region lost 400 jobs in the past year, a decrease of 0.3 percent; the Binghamton area gained 200 positions, an increase of 0.2 percent; the Watertown–Fort Drum region shed 400 jobs, a decrease of 1 percent; the Ithaca area gained 1,300 positions, an increase of 2 percent; and the Elmira region lost 100 jobs in the past year, a decrease of 0.3 percent.

New York state as a whole gained nearly 131,000 jobs, an increase of 1.4 percent, in that 12-month time period. The state economy gained more than 26,000 jobs, or 0.3 percent, between March and April, the labor department said.