Private-sector employment in Westchester and the Hudson Valley region grew by less than 1 percent from November 2013 through last month, as businesses added 5,400 jobs over the one-year period, the state Labor Department reported on Thursday.
The seven-county region trailed statewide job growth in the private sector, which rose 1.3 percent as employers added 97,700 jobs over the one-year period through November. The Hudson Valley region showed 0.7 percent growth.
Preliminary figures from the state Labor Department show the state unemployment rate declined slightly last month, from 6 percent to 5.9 percent. That was its lowest level since September 2008, according to the Labor Department.
Despite the slight drop in unemployment claims, the state”™s private sector shed 100 jobs from October to November.
The Hudson Valley”™s leisure and hospitality in November continued to be the region”™s leading job creator, adding 3,200 workers from a year ago, a 4 percent increase. Johny Nelson, regional labor market analyst at the state Labor Department office in White Plains, said that was the industry”™s second-largest year-over-year gain for November in the last 10 years. Of the region”™s total, 3,000 jobs were created by employers in Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties.
The region”™s struggling manufacturers shed 800 jobs last month from a year ago, a 1.7 percent decline. Of that total, manufacturers in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties had 700 fewer jobs in November than a year ago, a 3 percent decline.
Professional and business services firms in the region added 1,700 jobs in the one-year period through November, a 2.3 percent increase.
Nelson noted the region”™s private-sector job growth in November was strongest in the Kingston area labor market, which added 1,000 jobs from a year ago, a 2.2 percent increase.
