Rochester Business Journal

The Rochester metropolitan area continued to rank No. 1 statewide in job gains, the October report from the state Department of Labor on Thursday shows.

Over the last year Rochester has added 7,700 non-farm jobs, or 1.5 percent, while the private sector has gained 7,900 jobs, or 1.8 percent, not seasonally adjusted. Rochester ranked first among areas statewide in terms of percentage of non-farm and private-sector job gains.

The Buffalo area added 1,800 non-farm jobs, or 0.3 percent, while the private sector gained 2,200 jobs, or 0.5 percent. The Syracuse area also added 1,800 non-farm jobs, or 0.6 percent, while the private stayed relatively flat, gaining 100 jobs since October 2010.

Among the 52-county Upstate New York region, non-farm job growth was 6,900, while the private sector gained 11,700 jobs. Statewide, non-farm jobs increased by 63,500, and the private sector showed a 72,900 job increase.

The non-farm job count tracks all jobs in the private and public sectors, but does not count the self-employed or workers on farms.

Non-seasonally adjusted data are valuable in year-to-year comparisons for the same month, for example, October 2010 versus October 2011, the Department of Labor noted. When comparing different months, seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid comparison.

Statewide, the seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 7.9 percent in October, compared with 8 percent in September and 8.3 percent in October 2010. Some 757,000 people were unemployed last month, down from 758,200 in September.

Local unemployment rates are scheduled to be released next week.

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