
Another month, another not-so-hot jobs report for New York State.
Private sector employment statewide grew by 1.4 percent during the 12 months ended in May, trailing the national average gain of 2.1 percent during the same period, according to statistics released today by the state Labor Department.
New York gained 106,500 private jobs during the year ending in May — but if we had grown at the national average, that number would have been 53,250 jobs higher.
Once again, the vast majority of the statewide increase was in the New York City metro region—concentrated in the Big Apple itself, where private employment grew slightly faster than the national average, at 2.3 percent.w York gained 106,500 private jobs during the year ending in May — but if we had grown at the national average, that number would have been 53,250 jobs higher.
Once again, on a year-to-year basis, growth in upstate was barely above flatline (just two-tenths of a percent). Among upstate metro areas, Binghamton (-0.7 percent), Elmira (-1.2 percent), Ithaca (-2 percent) and Syracuse (-1 percent) all lost private sector jobs on a year-over-year basis. Albany, Buffalo and Rochester all gained, but at a less-than 1 percent annual clip.
And once again, employment dropped in New York’s manufacturing sector even while it was increasing nationally. Shale gas has been identified as a key contributor to U.S. manufacturing growth prospects for the future—but it’s not being extracted in upstate’s gas-rich, economically stagnant Marcellus Shale region.