Unemployment rates in the Syracuse, Utica–Rome, Watertown–Fort Drum, Binghamton, Ithaca, and Elmira areas all rose in August compared to a year ago, pointing to slowing labor markets across the broader 16-county Central New York region. The figures are part of the latest New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) data released on Sept. 24. Regional […]
Unemployment rates in the Syracuse, Utica–Rome, Watertown–Fort Drum, Binghamton, Ithaca, and Elmira areas all rose in August compared to a year ago, pointing to slowing labor markets across the broader 16-county Central New York region. The figures are part of the latest New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) data released on Sept. 24.
Regional unemployment rates
The jobless rate in the Syracuse region increased to 4.0 percent in August from 3.8 percent in August 2023. Elsewhere, the Utica–Rome metro area’s rate rose to 4.1 percent from 3.8 percent; the Watertown–Fort Drum region’s number edged up to 4.3 percent from 4.1 percent; the Binghamton area’s rate hit 4.3 percent, up from 4.0 percent; the Ithaca region’s number rose to 3.9 percent from 3.6 percent; and the Elmira area’s unemployment rate reached 4.4 percent in August, up from 4.2 percent in the same month a year prior. 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. New York state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 4.3 percent this July to 4.4 percent in August, according to preliminary figures that NYSDOL released Sept. 19. The August statewide unemployment figure of 4.4 percent was higher than the U.S. jobless rate of 4.2 percent in August, and it was also up from New York’s 4.3 percent rate in August 2023, per the department. 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.