Unemployment in the seven-county Hudson Valley region rose slightly in May, up 0.5 percentage points to 5.3 percent against April”™s figure of 4.8 percent. Despite the slight rise, the unemployment rate remains 1.3 percentage points lower than May 2013, when unemployment in the region stood at 6.6 percent.
Putnam County, with 4.7 percent unemployment, and Rockland County, at 4.8 percent, lead the region and rank among the top 10 of the state”™s 52 counties with the lowest unemployment rates. Westchester County”™s rate of 5.1 percent, up slightly from 4.6 percent in April, ranks third in the region, ahead of the counties of Dutchess (5.3 percent), Orange (5.7 percent), Ulster (6 percent) and Sullivan (6.9 percent).
The Putnam-Rockland-Westchester region has gained 3,000 private sector jobs over the past year, according to preliminary figures released by the state Department of Labor.
Meanwhile, New York state”™s private sector job count rose 0.3 percent in May and the state unemployment rate held fast as the economy added 23,400 nonfarm jobs, a figure that combines private sector and government jobs, over the past month.
“New York state”™s economy continued to grow in May as it added 21,300 private sector jobs, reaching a new all-time high and outpacing job growth nationwide,” said Bohdan M. Wynnyk, deputy director of the state Labor Department’s Division of Research and Statistics. “This marked the 18th consecutive month of private sector employment gains. Our state”™s jobless rate remained at 6.7 percent, its lowest level since late 2008.”
The state”™s private sector job count is based on a payroll survey of 18,000 New York employers conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor”™s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In the 10-county downstate New York region, 88,200 nonfarm jobs were added over the past year, including 1,000 in Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties. New York City added 75,000 nonfarm jobs throughout the five boroughs, while Nassau and Suffolk Counties added 12,200 nonfarm jobs.
Job gains were the greatest in private sector education and health services, where 36,300 jobs were created in the past year, as well as professional and business services, with 30,100 new jobs, and trade, transportation and utilities, with 23,200 jobs.
Meanwhile, the Empire State lost 7,700 manufacturing jobs, as well as 5,800 jobs in government and 3,200 jobs in the financial sector.
