Lower Hudson Valley loses 23,000 jobs in January

The lower Hudson Valley lost 23,000 jobs in January from the previous month, according to a state Department of Labor report.

Nonfarm jobs declined in Westchester, Rockland and Orange counties by 3.2 percent to 697,000, from 720,000 in December. The three-county regional decline was larger than the state”™s 2.8 percent drop in job numbers and the nation”™s 2.2 percent drop in January.

The one-year trend remained positive, however. The Lower Hudson Valley added 9,400 jobs, or 1.4 percent, and the state added 132,200 jobs, or 1.4 percent, from January to January.

Those job counts are based on survey data that are not seasonally adjusted. On a seasonally adjusted basis, New York recorded more than 8 million private-sector jobs for the first time, adding 28,500 jobs statewide in January, according to the Labor Department.

The broader Hudson Valley region ”“ including Columbia, Dutchess, Putnam and Ulster counties ”“ lost 32,900 jobs, or 3.4 percent, in January.

The Lower Hudson Valley lost jobs in every major sector in January. The strongest sectors were financial activities, down by 300 jobs or 0.8 percent; information, down by 200 jobs or 1.5 percent; and government, down by 1,400 jobs or 1.3 percent.

The weakest sectors were leisure and hospitality, down 5,500 jobs or 9 percent; natural resources, mining and construction, down 1,600 jobs or 4.2 percent; and trade, transportation and utilities, down 5,500 jobs or 3.7 percent.

A couple of subsectors showed positive numbers: management of companies and enterprises, which added 400 jobs in Janaury, and utilities, adding 100 jobs.

Despite the job losses, the state unemployment rate improved to 4.6 percent from 4.8 percent, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate is based on the current population survey and a monthly survey of 3,100 households.

The job count is based on a survey of 18,000 New York employers. The monthly estimates are preliminary and could be revised as more data become available.