CNY jobless rates fall in December; regions add jobs

Unemployment rates in the Syracuse, Utica-Rome, Watertown-Fort Drum, Binghamton, Ithaca, and Elmira regions continued to fall in December relative to year-ago levels amid the pandemic.

The figures are part of the latest New York State Department of Labor data released Jan. 25.

In addition, the Syracuse, Utica–Rome, Watertown–Fort Drum, Binghamton, Ithaca, and Elmira regions gained jobs at a rate of between 2 percent and nearly 5 percent, between December 2020 and this past December.

That’s according to the latest monthly employment report that the New York State Department of Labor issued Jan. 20.

The jobless rate in the Syracuse area plunged to 3 percent in December from 6.5 percent in December 2020.

The Utica–Rome region’s rate fell to 3.2 percent from 6.6 percent; the Watertown–Fort Drum area’s number dipped to 3.4 percent from 6.3 percent; the Binghamton area hit 3.1 percent unemployment, down from 6.6 percent; the Ithaca region’s rate cratered to 2.2 percent from 4.7 percent; and the unemployment rate in the Elmira region was 3.1 percent in December, down from 7 percent in the same month a year earlier.

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.

The Syracuse region gained 7,000 jobs in the past year, an increase of about 2.4 percent.

The Utica–Rome metro area added 2,700 jobs, an increase of 2.3 percent; the Watertown–Fort Drum region gained 1,800 jobs, a 4.6 percent rise; the Binghamton area picked up 2,000 positions, up 2.1 percent; the Ithaca region gained 1,400 jobs, an increase of about 2.4 percent; and the Elmira area added 1,400 jobs in the past year, a rise of 4.1 percent.

New York state as a whole gained more than 388,000 jobs, an increase of about 4.4 percent, in that 12-month period.