On the heels of another monthly rise in unemployment throughout the Hudson Valley region, government officials last week touted a trio of incentive programs to help New York businesses train, retain and hire workers.
The private sector lost another 5,200 jobs in May in the seven-county region, bringing the one-year total of jobs lost to 17,300, a 2.3 percent decline, according to the state Department of Labor. The region”™s 7.2 percent unemployment rate in May was up 2.4 percent year-to-year, though lower than both the statewide average of 8 percent and national jobless rate of 9.1 percent for the month.
Despite an addition of 3,600 private-sector jobs in the Putnam-Rockland-Westchester market in May from the previous month, a 0.8 percent increase, businesses have shed a net total of 9,800 jobs since May 2008, a 2 percent drop, the Labor Department reported. The tri-county area”™s unemployment rate rose to 6.9 percent in May, compared to 6.5 percent in April and 4.5 percent in May 2008.
In Westchester, the 7 percent unemployment rate in May was up 2.5 percent from a year ago. Neighboring Putnam County had the region”™s lowest jobless rate in May at 6.6 percent, while rural Sullivan County had the highest May unemployment at 8.5 percent.
In the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown labor market, the unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent in May, up from 7.2 percent in April and 5.1 percent in May 2008. The private sector in Dutchess and Orange counties added 1,400 jobs through the month, a 0.7 percent increase from April, yet has lost a total of 5,400 jobs since May 2008.
The Kingston labor market in May lost another 300 private-sector jobs, bringing the one-year total in job reduction to 1,500. Ulster County had a 7.5 percent unemployment rate in May, compared to 7 percent in April and 5.1 percent in May 2008.
“Outside of educational and health services, all industry sectors continue to show over-the-year job declines,” said state Labor Department market analyst Johny Nelson in White Plains. The job market here is expected to worsen still with a “flurry of layoffs” in coming months, he said.
In White Plains last week, state, county and federal officials joined in urging businesses in the region to tap government programs designed to help employers and employees weather the recession. The initiatives, funded in part by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and administered by the state Labor Department, are investments in the region”™s “human capital,” said New York State Labor Commissioner M. Patricia Smith.
Smith”™s agency has launched Building Skills in New York State, a $5 million training program for companies looking to upgrade the skills of their current workers. Private businesses, nonprofits and company consortiums with four or more workers may to apply for up to $50,000 in funding awards to train employees within New York in specific occupational skills needed by their business or industry.
Officials said the goal of the program is to ensure that workers”™ skills do not deteriorate or grow stale in an increasingly competitive and technologically complex world economy.
Businesses have until July 20 to apply for the Building Skills program. Labor Department officials said there is no minimum award amount for training contracts that will extend for up to six months.
Businesses can visit the Labor Department”™s Web home page for more information or to download an application.
Companies also were urged to explore federal Work Opportunity Tax Credits when hiring new workers. The credits, which officials said can amount to thousands of dollars for each employee, can be claimed by businesses hiring needy and disadvantaged persons meeting certain criteria, including veterans, ex-felons, summer youth workers, vocational rehabilitation referrals, disabled persons and food stamp and public assistance recipients.
Businesses in the region interested in tax credits program should call 1-888-4-NYSDOL.
To curb more private-sector layoffs, Labor Department officials are directing companies coping with declining business to the agency”™s Shared Work Program.
Rather than lay off a percentage of workers to cut costs, an employer can use the program to reduce the hours of all or a particular group of employees. In turn, employees can receive partial unemployment insurance benefits to compensate for their lost wages. Participating employees do not see a reduction in their health insurance, retirement, vacation pay or other fringe benefits.
In 2008, 43 companies in the Hudson Valley region and 660 workers took part in the Shared Work program. Through May this year, 104 companies and 1,846 workers in the region participated. Businesses interested in applying for the program can call 518-457-5807.
Westchester County Association President William M. Mooney Jr. last week called the work force initiatives “a most needed investment for our region.”
