County’s employment numbers up in June

The number of employed workers in Westchester County rose by 12,700 in June compared with May, while 700 fewer workers were employed in the county last month compared with June a year ago, according to the state Department of Labor.
Despite the spike in employment numbers, an estimated 18,000 available workers in the county could not find work in June, an increase of 2,000 or 0.3 percent from May. The June unemployment rate in the county was 3.6 percent, down 0.2 percent from June a year ago.
In the Putnam-Rockland-Westchester area, 679,600 workers were employed in June, an increase of 18,200 from May. Monthly employment was down by 900 in the tri-county area compared with June a year ago.
In a trend seen across the state, estimated unemployment numbers rose in June in the Putnam-Rockland-Westchester area despite the employment increase. An estimated 25,600 persons, or 3.6 percent of the area work force, were out of jobs in June, compared with 22,800 in May, a 0.3 percent increase. As in Westchester alone, the tri-county area”™s June employment rate was down 0.2 percent from a year ago.
Since June 2006, the number of nonfarm jobs in the Putnam-Rockland-Westchester
area has increased by 5,300 or 0.9 percent. The number of private-sector jobs has increased by 4,100, or 0.9 percent, according to the state Labor Department Division of Research and Statistics. 
While both federal and state government employment held steady from May to June in the tri-county area, jobs in local government and local government education increased by 2,000 in June compared with May.
As might be expected at the close of the academic year, jobs in educational services dropped to 21,500 in the tri-county area in June, compared with 24,200 in May. The 11.2 percent decrease was the only decrease among all job categories in the area.
In real estate and rental and leasing, there were 500 more jobs in June than in the previous month in the tri-county area. The June job total of 12,400 in the real estate industry was the highest increase among job categories at 4.2 percent.
As the leisure and hospitality industry geared up for summer business, full-service restaurants in the Putnam-Rockland-Westchester area added 400 jobs for a total 14,700, a 2.8 percent increase. Jobs at food-serving bars in the area increased by 700 in June to a total 28,300, a 2.5 percent increase.
There were 29,500 jobs in the area in June in administrative and support and waste management and remediation services, a 2.8 percent increase.
Area jobs in professional, scientific and technical services totaled 33,200 in June, an increase of 700, or 2.2 percent, from May.
Statewide, the number of private-sector jobs increased by 8,800, or 0.1 percent, in June to 7,205,000. Nationally, the number of private-sector jobs increased at the same rate over the same period.
The number of nonfarm jobs in the state increased over the month by 10,100, or 0.1 percent, to 8,692,900 in June. Nationally, the number of seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs increased in June at the same rate as New York”™s.

Since June 2006, the number of nonfarm jobs in the state increased by 81,400, or 0.9 percent, and the number of private-sector jobs increased by 76,900, or 1.1 percent. Nationally, both the number of nonfarm jobs and private-sector jobs increased by 1.4 percent from June a year ago.
The state”™s unemployment rate, after seasonal adjustment, increased from 4.4 percent in May to 4.7 percent in June. New York City”™s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate also rose, going from 4.9 percent in May to 5.3 percent in June.
Westchester County and the Putnam-Rockland-Westchester area had lower June unemployment rates than the statewide rate outside New York City, which increased from 4 percent in May to 4.2 percent last month.
Since the beginning of New York”™s current economic expansion in August 2003, the state has added 301,200 private-sector jobs, Labor Department officials said.
“During the present economic recovery, the state has added an average of 6,500 jobs per month,” said David J. Trzaskos, director of the Division of Research and Statistics. “If the state continues to add jobs at this rate, by November 2007 it will be on track to eclipse New York”™s record private-sector job count of 7,235,300 set in December 2000.”