Utilities jobs decline in Syracuse MSA and statewide

The number of utilities jobs in the Syracuse metropolitan statistical area (MSA) dropped by 100 positions, or 2.6 percent, in July from the year-prior period, according to a report from the New York State Department of Labor in August.

The figures showed a net loss of 1,200 utilities jobs (a 3.1 percent drop) statewide in the same timeframe.

 The utilities industry includes “establishments engaged in the provision of the following utility services: electric power, natural gas, steam supply, water supply, and sewage removal,” according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

The Syracuse MSA is comprised of Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego counties. 

Data specific to the utilities sector is not available for Binghamton, Elmira, Ithaca, Utica–Rome, or Watertown–Fort-Drum — the other MSAs in Central New York. In those areas, the data is aggregated within the larger transportation, warehousing, and utilities “super sector.”

The Department of Labor indicated that the jobs data are not seasonally adjusted, noting, “non-seasonally adjusted data are valuable in year-to-year comparisons of the same month.”