Central New York jobs picture mixed in latest state report

The Syracuse, Binghamton, and Utica–Rome regions lost jobs in the past 12 months, while the Ithaca and Watertown–Fort Drum regions gained jobs in the same period.

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

The Syracuse region lost 200 jobs between September 2015 and this past September, a decrease of 0.1 percent. 

The Binghamton area shed 1,400 positions, for a 1.4 percent decline, in the same period.

The Utica–Rome region lost 1,100 jobs between September 2015 and this past September, a decrease of 0.9 percent.

The Watertown–Fort Drum area added 600 jobs in the past 12 months, an increase of 1.4 percent.

The Ithaca region gained 4,100 jobs in the last year, an increase of 5.9 percent.

New York state as a whole gained 120,000 jobs, an increase of 1.3 percent, in the last year. However, the state economy lost 1,400 jobs between August and September, the labor department said. It’s the second straight month that New York state lost jobs on a month-to-month basis. The state economy also shed more than 11,000 jobs between July and August.

New York state’s unemployment rate rose to 5.0 percent in September from 4.8 percent in August, the Labor Department said. 

However, the September figure was unchanged from the unemployment rate of a year ago.

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