Rochester Business Journal

The Rochester metropolitan area economy continued to improve in June, adding non-farm and private-sector jobs, the state Department of Labor said Thursday.

Over the last year Rochester added 9,700 non-farm jobs, or 1.9 percent, while the private sector gained 9,200 jobs, or 2.1 percent. Job gains in the area again were concentrated primarily in the professional and business services industry.

The Rochester area ranked sixth among upstate regions in terms of private-sector job growth, on a percentage basis, in June. The Elmira, Ithaca and Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown regions were the only regions statewide to lose private-sector jobs from June 2011 to June 2012, the state said.

Across the 52-county Upstate New York region, non-farm job growth was 30,400 in June, while the private sector added 34,000 jobs. Statewide, some 137,200 non-farm jobs were added last month, while the private sector gained 139,100 jobs, not seasonally adjusted.

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. Within the Rochester region, some 523,800 were employed in non-farm jobs in June, up from 523,000 in May and 514,100 a year ago, not seasonally adjusted.

Non-seasonally adjusted data are valuable in year-to-year comparisons for the same month, for example, June 2011 versus June 2012, the Labor Department has noted. When comparing different months, seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid comparison.

Statewide, the seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 8.9 percent in June, up from 8.6 percent in May and 8.2 percent June 2011.

The Buffalo area economy also improved last month, adding 4,300 non-farm jobs, or 0.8 percent, while the private sector added 4,600 jobs, or 1 percent. The Syracuse area gained 1,700 non-farm jobs, or 0.5 percent, while the private sector added 800 jobs, or 0.3 percent.

The professional & business services sector continued to show the largest job gains statewide in June, having added 53,100 jobs since June 2011. The construction sector continued to report the steepest declines, shedding 9,700 jobs since June 2011, primarily in heavy and civil engineering construction and specialty trade contractors.

Local employment rates are scheduled to be released next week.

(c) 2012 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or e-mail service@rbj.net.