Report: Most of Central New York lost jobs in the last year

The Syracuse, Utica–Rome, and Binghamton regions lost jobs in the last 12 months, even as the state added positions in the same period.

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

The Syracuse metro area lost 1,800 total jobs between October 2013 and this October, a decline of 0.6 percent, the department said in its report.

The Utica–Rome region shed 900 positions in the same period, a decline of 0.7 percent. The Binghamton region lost 300 jobs in that 12-month span, a decline of 0.3 percent, according to the state Labor Department data.

Bucking the trend, the Ithaca region gained 700 jobs between October 2013 and this October, an increase of 1 percent, the department said.

New York state as a whole added 106,500 jobs, a 1.2 percent gain, in the last year, with 97.5 percent of those positions located Downstate. But, the state economy lost 5,600 jobs in the last month, according to the report.

Private-sector jobs
The Syracuse region lost 1,500 private-sector jobs between October 2013 and this October, a decline of 0.6 percent. The Utica–Rome area shed 600 private-sector positions, also a drop of 0.6 percent.

The Binghamton region gained 100 private-sector jobs, an increase of 0.1 percent, in the last year, according to the report.

The Ithaca area added 700 private-sector positions between October 2013 and this October, an increase of 1.1 percent.

New York state’s economy added 110,000 private-sector job, a 1.5 percent gain, in the last 12 months, with 99.4 percent of those positions located Downstate. But, the state lost 4,700 private-sector jobs in the last moth, the state Labor Department reported.

The state’s private-sector job count is based on a payroll survey of 18,000 New York state employers that the U.S. Department of Labor conducts.

New York state’s unemployment rate fell to 6 percent in October from 6.2 percent in September and 7.4 percent in October 2013.

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