The national unemployment rate for October was 7.5 percent, down one percentage point from a year earlier according to seasonally unadjusted figures released today.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) put a spotlight on New York state, with the largest reported increase in unemployment in a metropolitan area nationwide, in Elmira, NY.
The unadjusted unemployment rate for New York state overall was 8.3 percent, almost a full percentage point above the national average in October.
Ithaca had the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 5.8 percent, followed by the Albany, Schenectady and Troy area.
The Rochester, Buffalo, and Syracuse areas all had unemployment rates higher than the national average, at 7.8 for Rochester and 8.2 percent for the other centers.
Associate economist for the state Department of Labor, Tammy Marino says although there was a rise in professional and technical services and healthcare jobs over the year, the figures reflect a slump in the manufacturing sector upstate.
“In the goods producing sector, both manufacturing and construction employment fell over the year, in fact these declines wiped out basically two years of job growth, so that’s cut into our numbers a little bit.”
BLS economist Brian Hannon says New York is one of few states still struggling to recover in the job market after the recession.
“The whole north-east part of the nation, at least in terms of the unemployment rate, isn’t really seeing the recovery that we are throughout the rest of the nation. In particular, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey are really the only ones that are seeing a slight up-tick from the same time period last year in the unemployment rate.”
“The rest of the nation is down, in some cases quite a bit, New England just slightly, but that three state area is showing a slight increase over the year.
In contrast to the unemployment rates, the largest increase in non-farm employment over the year was seen in New York state, along with New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
New York state unemployment rates October 2011, 2012:
Statewide:
- 2011 – 8.0 percent
- 2012 – 8.3 percent
Albany-Schenectady-Troy:
- 2011 – 6.8 percent
- 2012 – 7.3 percent
Binghamton:
- 2011 – 8.0 percent
- 2012 – 8.3 percent
Buffalo-Niagara Falls:
- 2011 – 7.4 percent
- 2012 – 8.2 percent
Elmira:
- 2011 - 7.7 percent
- 2012 - 8.8 percent
Glenn Falls:
- 2011 - 7.0 percent
- 2011 - 7.5 percent
Ithaca:
- 2011 – 5.6 percent
- 2012 – 5.8 percent
Kingston:
- 2011 – 7.8 percent
- 2012 – 8.5 percent
New York City:
- 2011 – 9.2 percent
- 2012 – 9.2 percent
Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown:
- 2011 – 7.3 percent
- 2012 – 7.8 percent
Rochester:
- 2011 – 7.2 percent
- 2012 – 7.8 percent
Syracuse:
- 2011 – 7.7 percent
- 2012 – 8.2 percent
Utica-Rome:
- 2011 – 7.6 percent
- 2012 – 7.8 percent
