Unemployment rates in the Syracuse, Utica–Rome, Watertown–Fort Drum, Binghamton, and Elmira regions remained in double-digit figures in June compared to a year ago with the impact of layoffs during the COVID-19 shutdowns. The Ithaca area was the only one in the state to register a single-figure jobless rate in June. The numbers are part of […]
Unemployment rates in the Syracuse, Utica–Rome, Watertown–Fort Drum, Binghamton, and Elmira regions remained in double-digit figures in June compared to a year ago with the impact of layoffs during the COVID-19 shutdowns.
The Ithaca area was the only one in the state to register a single-figure jobless rate in June. The numbers are part of the latest New York State Department of Labor data released July 21.
The Syracuse, Utica–Rome, and Binghamton regions lost jobs in five-digit figures between June 2019 and this past June. At the same time, the Watertown–Fort Drum, Ithaca, and Elmira regions shed jobs in four-digit figures in the same period.
That’s according to the latest monthly employment report that the NYS Department of Labor issued July 16.
Regional unemployment rates
The jobless rate in the Syracuse area was 11.9 percent in June, up from 4 percent in June 2019.
The Utica–Rome region’s unemployment rate was 10.8 percent, up from 4.4 percent; the Watertown–Fort Drum area posted 11.2 percent, up from 4.6 percent; the Binghamton region’s rate rose to 11.1 percent from 4.4 percent; the Ithaca area’s rate hit 8.9 percent, up from 3.8 percent; and the Elmira region’s jobless number was 11.9 percent in June, up from 4.1 percent in the same month a year ago.
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 seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 14.5 percent in May to 15.7 percent in June.
In June, the number of unemployed New York state residents increased by 154,000, while labor-force levels increased by 299,100. The rise in the unemployment rate — despite New York state adding 296,400 private-sector jobs — may be explained by a combination of the use of different data sources for the two figures, the use of statistical regression models to determine the unemployment rate, a growing labor force, and the impact of out-of-state workers, among other factors, the NYS Labor Department explained.
The 15.7 percent unemployment rate was higher than the U.S. unemployment rate of 11.1 percent in June.
The June statewide unemployment figure of 15.7 percent was up substantially from the 3.9 percent figure reported in June 2019, according to department figures.
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.
June jobs data
The Syracuse region lost nearly 46,000 jobs in the past year, representing a decrease of 14.1 percent.
The Utica–Rome metro region lost nearly 15,000 jobs, a decrease of about 11 percent; the Watertown–Fort Drum region shed 6,600 jobs, a decline of about 15 percent; the Binghamton region lost nearly 11,000 positions, a decrease of about 10 percent; the Ithaca region shed 4,400 jobs, a drop of about 7 percent; and the Elmira area lost more than 2,000 jobs in the past year, a dip of about 6 percent.
New York state as a whole lost nearly 1.5 million jobs, a decrease of 15.1 percent, in that 12-month period. The state economy gained more than 301,000 jobs, a 3.8 percent rise, from May to June of this year, the labor department said.