New York added more than 34,000 private sector jobs in December as some areas of Upstate saw private sector employment jump as well, according to new data from the state Labor Department.
The statewide unemployment rate was 8.2 percent in December, even with a year earlier and higher than the nationwide rate of 7.8 percent. Unemployment was 8.3 percent in New York in November.
Excluding New York City, unemployment in New York was 7.8 percent in December.
“The New York state economy closed out the year with 34,300 private sector jobs added in December and 123,200 added to the state’s economy in 2012,” Bohdan Wynnyk, deputy director of the Labor Department’s Division of Research and Statistics, said in a news release. “In addition, the state’s unemployment rate continued its downward trend in December.”
The private sector job count rose between December 2011 and December 2012 in Syracuse by 900 jobs, or 0.4 percent, and in Utica-Rome by 300 jobs, or 0.3 percent. The Binghamton area lost 200 private sector jobs, a decline of 0.2 percent, according to the Labor Department.
New York state gained more than 119,000 private sector jobs between December 2011 and December 2012, an increase of 1.6 percent.
During the same period, the professional and business services sector gained 47,900 jobs, the most jobs statewide. The construction industry lost the most positions with a decline of 6,900 jobs, according to the department.
Contact Tampone at ktampone@cnybj.com