Oswego County’s unemployment rate edged upwards in October, to 9.7%.

The increase of two tenths of a percentage point happened even though more people were reported as working by the New York State Labor Department during the month.

500 more people were listed as working in October, to bring the number of county residents with a job to 52,000.  But the number of people listed as unemployed — meaning they do not have jobs and are actively looking for work — rose by 400, to 5,800.

Oswego County’s jobless rate is the fifth highest in the state.

New York State’s unemployment rate fell in October as more people found jobs. “In October 2012, New York’s private sector continued to add jobs, both the statewide and New York City unemployment rates fell from the previous month, and the number of unemployed in the state declined. The private sector job count grew by 5,900 to 7,340,100, reaching an all-time high for the state,” said Bohdan M. Wynnyk, Deputy Director of the Division of Research and Statistics.