Some CNY areas gain jobs, some lose them in last year

The Syracuse, Utica–Rome, and Watertown–Fort Drum regions gained jobs in the past year, while the Ithaca and Binghamton areas shed positions 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 gained 1,800 jobs between April 2015 and this past April, an increase of 0.6 percent.

The Utica–Rome metro area added 900 jobs, a 0.7 percent gain, in the same timeframe.

The Watertown–Fort Drum region also added 900 jobs in the past 12 months, an increase of 2.2 percent.

The Ithaca metro area lost 600 jobs in the last year, a decline of 0.8 percent.

The Binghamton region also shed 600 jobs between April 2015 and this past April, a drop of 0.6 percent.

New York state as a whole gained more than 121,000 jobs, an increase of 1.3 percent, in the last year. The state economy added more than 10,000 jobs in the last month.

Private-sector jobs
The Syracuse region gained 1,100 private-sector jobs in the last year, an increase of 0.4 percent, according to the state Labor Department data.

The Utica–Rome area also added 700 private-sector positions, a gain of 0.7 percent.

The Watertown–Fort Drum region gained 900 private-sector jobs, a rise of 3.1 percent in the last 12 months, according to the report.

The Ithaca area lost 500 private-sector positions between April 2015 and this past April, down 0.8 percent.

The Binghamton region lost 300 private-sector jobs, a drop of 0.4 percent.

New York state’s economy added more than 114,000 private-sector jobs, a 1.5 percent gain in the last 12 months, with most of those positions located Downstate.

The state also gained more than 13,000 private-sector jobs, a 0.2 percent increase, in just the last month, 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 rose to 4.9 percent in April, from 4.8 percent in March, the department said in its news release. The 4.9 percent statewide jobless figure remained below the national unemployment rate of 5 percent in April.

The April figure of 4.9 percent is also down from 5.5 percent a year ago, 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.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com