Preliminary data released by the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) last week, revealed that Sullivan County’s 2019 is off to a good start. The county’s year-over-year private sector job growth topped the state for the 12th straight month, up 9.3 percent.
Also, the county’s unemployment rate for January 2019 was 4.4 percent, which is down from six percent in January 2018.
The county’s highest job growth came in the leisure and hospitality sector, up 1,600 jobs from a year ago.
Hudson Valley Region
In January 2019, among the 10 Labor Market Regions in New York State, the lowest unemployment rate (3.9 percent) was recorded in the Hudson Valley Region and the Long Island Region.
According to the NYSDOL, the January 2019 unemployment rate for the Hudson Valley Region is up from 3.3 percent in December 2018 and down from 5.0 percent in January 2018.
In January 2019, there were 44,200 unemployed in the region, up from 38,000 in December 2018 and down from 55,700 in January 2018. Year-over-year in January 2019, labor force increased by 14,000 or 1.2 percent, to 1,138,600.
For the 12-month period ending January 2019, private sector jobs in the Hudson Valley increased by 8,300, or 1.1 percent, to 789,100 –– the highest January employment count on record.
Gains were largest in professional and business services (+3,900), educational and health services (+3,800), natural resources, mining and construction (+3,000), leisure and hospitality (+900), and other services (+700).
Losses were centered in trade, transportation, and utilities (-3,300) and information (-500).
The over-the-year picture remained positive, with five sectors adding jobs for the 12 months through January 2019 while three reported job losses. Two sectors posted over-the-year gains of at least 3.5 percent. Year-over-year, job growth in the professional and business services sector was impressive, up 3.6 percent – its strongest January growth in 8 years.
By, Joseph Abraham