State unemployment rate ticks up to 7.7 percent in October

New York’s unemployment rate rose 0.1 percent to 7.7 percent between September and October, according to preliminary figures the New York State Department of Labor released on Thursday.

The number of unemployed New Yorkers increased from 734,600 in September to 740,300 in October, the department said.

Layoffs related to the federal-government shutdown between Oct. 1 and Oct. 16 may have “contributed in part” to the higher unemployment rate, the Labor Department added.

The state agency contends that the uptick in the unemployment rate also stemmed from more New Yorkers becoming confident about finding a job and resuming their search for work, which means they are counted in the rate calculation. In September and October combined, nearly 41,000 people returned to the labor force, the department said in its news release.

The state’s economy added 33,800 private-sector jobs in September and October combined — 24,800 in September and 9,000 in October.

The state Labor Department postponed release of labor-market information for September and October until Thursday because the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics delay in sending jobs and labor-force data to the New York Labor Department due to the federal-government shutdown, the state agency said.

The preliminary October unemployment rate of 7.7 percent for New York is down compared to the 8.4 percent rate in October 2012, according to the state Labor Department data.

In areas of the state outside of New York City, which includes all of upstate and Long Island, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.9 percent in October and September. But the October figure is down 1 percent compared to the year-earlier period, according to the department’s data.

Educational and health services added the most jobs statewide, 48,000, over the last year. The professional and business-services sector was second in the category, adding more than 27,000 positions, according to the state Labor Department.

Positions in the leisure and hospitality sector were third on the list, adding nearly 22,000 jobs. The trade, transportation, and utilities sector followed, adding 18,800 jobs.

The government sector led the way in job losses in October, declining by 14,400, in the last year, according to the state Labor Department.

CNY regional data

The Syracuse metro area generated a net gain of 2,800 total jobs between October 2012 and this October, an increase of 0.9 percent, according to the state data. The region gained 2,600 private-sector jobs in the same period, a rise of 1 percent.

The Ithaca region added 600 total jobs year-over-year, an increase of 0.9 percent. Ithaca’s private-sector employers added 400 jobs between October 2012 and October 2013, a rise of 0.7 percent.

In the Utica–Rome metro area, the state figures indicate a year-over-year net gain of 1,500 total jobs, or 1.2 percent. The region also gained 1,900 private-sector jobs, a 2 percent increase, in the same 12-month period.

The Binghamton area saw a year-over-year net decline of 1,000 total jobs, or a 0.9 percent decrease. In the same time period, the region’s private-sector employers added 100 jobs, an increase of 0.1 percent between last October and this past October.

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

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, the department added.