Hudson Valley unemployment up to 7.6 percent

Unemployment in the Hudson Valley rose to a seasonally-unadjusted 7.6 percent in May, up from 7.2 percent in April and 6.9 percent in May of 2011.

May represented the fourth consecutive month for which the region”™s unemployment rate was higher than it had been 12 months prior.

The year-over-year employment gap expanded in May, with 86,200 unemployed Hudson Valley residents compared to 76,700 unemployed residents in May of 2011.

New York State Department of Labor analysts attributed the increase in unemployment to a swelling of the state”™s labor force, which includes all employed residents and all those actively seeking employment.

Between May 2011 and May 2012, the Hudson Valley labor force expanded by nearly 10,000, or 0.9 percent, while the state”™s labor force increased by 0.7 percent.

“As the economy continues to improve, more people tend to enter the labor force,” said Bohdan M. Wynnyk, deputy director of the Labor Department”™s division of research and statistics. “As a result, the increase in the number of job seekers pushed up the state”™s jobless rate in May.”

In May, the New York state jobless rate increased to a seasonally-adjusted 8.6 percent, up from 8.5 percent in April. Likewise, the national unemployment rate climbed to 8.2 percent in May, up from 8.1 percent the previous month.

The private sector added 10,100 jobs in the Hudson Valley for the 12-month period ending in May.

Most of the year-over-year growth was centered in five industry clusters.

The trade, transportation and utilities sector added 3,900 jobs, expanding at a 2.2 percent clip; the financial activities sector added 1,200 jobs, growing 2.6 percent; the professional and business services sector added 2,500 jobs, growing 2.5 percent; the private education and health services sector ”“ the region”™s biggest employer ”“ added 5,000 jobs, growing 2.7 percent; and the leisure and hospitality sector added 2,100 jobs, also growing 2.7 percent.

Net gains were blunted by cuts in the natural resources, mining and construction sector and in the manufacturing sector of 4,400 jobs and 2,900 jobs, respectively. The government sector was also responsible for 800 job cuts in May, representing 0.5 percent contraction.