Westchester County”™s unemployment rate ticked upwards in September to 6.6 percent from 6.5 percent in August, according to data released Oct. 25 from the state Department of Labor.
Both nationally and on the statewide levels, the unemployment rates held steady in September at 9.1 percent and 8 percent, respectively.
On a positive note, last month both the Westchester County and Hudson Valley job markets posted their first annual increases since 2007 ”“ meaning that for the first time in four years, more people were employed during the month than were employed exactly a year prior.
In the three-county region that includes Westchester, Rockland and Putnam, the private sector continued to post slight gains, both over the past month and the past year. Total private employment in the latter region increased by 1,100, or 0.2 percent, over the past month, and by 8,000, or 1.7 percent, year-to-date.
Private-sector gains from August to September were largely the result of Verizon”™s striking employees returning to work, the Labor Department noted, as the job totals for the telecommunications sector in the Westchester-Rockland-Putnam region mirrored those last seen in June and July prior to the strike.
The strongest job sectors in the three-county region over the past year continued to be the educational and health services and the leisure and hospitality sectors, which both added 3,700 jobs over the past year for gains of 3.2 percent and 8 percent, respectively.
Holding back job growth were the construction, manufacturing and government sectors, which declined by 6.3 percent, 2.3 percent, and 1.1 percent respectively over the past year.
Notably, the labor force in Westchester ”“ which includes all residents who are classified as employed and as unemployed ”“ declined by more than 10,000 from August to September, indicating that more people are becoming discouraged and have not classified themselves as unemployed or may have moved out of the region altogether.
