Rochester Business Journal

The metropolitan Rochester economy showed improvement in the number of private-sector and non-farm jobs in September, the state Department of Labor said Thursday.

Over the last year Rochester has added 9,200 non-farm jobs, or 1.8 percent, while the private sector has gained 8,900 jobs, or 2.1 percent. Job gains in the area again were concentrated primarily in the professional and business services industry.

The Buffalo area again lost 400 non-farm jobs, or 0.1 percent, while the private sector lost 300 jobs, or 0.1 percent. The Syracuse area gained 500 non-farm jobs last month, or 0.2 percent, while the private sector remained relatively flat, gaining 100 jobs.

The Rochester area ranked second among upstate regions last month in terms of percentage of non-farm job growth, behind the Ithaca region. Rochester also ranked second, behind Ithaca, in percentage of job growth in the private sector.

Among the 52-county Upstate New York region, non-farm growth was 16,400 in September, while the private sector gained 20,400 jobs, not seasonally adjusted. Statewide, some 135,200 non-farm jobs were gained from September 2011 to September 2012, while the private sector added 134,300 jobs.

The Department of Labor noted that the job count statewide reached a record high of 7.34 million in September. New York is one of five states nationwide that have regained all of the private-sector jobs lost in the recession.

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

Statewide, the seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 8.9 percent, down from 9.1 percent in August, but up from 8.3 percent a year ago.

The professional & business services sector continued to show the largest job gains statewide in September, having added 63,200 jobs since September 2011, not seasonally adjusted. At 12,500, the construction sector lost the most jobs in the last year.

Local unemployment rates are scheduled to be released next week.

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