Jobless Rate Remains Upstate’s Highest

by Contributor | March 26, 2010 5:56 am

Oswego County’s unemployment rate was unchanged from January to February.  The rate remained at 11.6%.

The county’s jobless rate is the highest in Upstate New York and second highest in the state, to the Bronx’ 13.6%.

7,100 people remained jobless — meaning they did not have a fulltime job and were continuing to look for one — while 54,000 were employed, up 100 from the month before.

The rate for the 3-county Syracuse area, which also includes Onondaga and Madison counties, held steady at 9% as each of the other counties recorded small gains.

Statewide, the unemployment rate improved slightly, to 9.3%, down a tenth of a point.

27 counties– about 40% of the state’s counties — had unemployment rates above 10%.

“New York State’s labor market continues to improve. We’ve now added jobs for two consecutive months and the state’s unemployment rate has leveled off. However, following previous recessions, it has taken the state about five years, on average, to regain all of the jobs lost during a downturn,” said Peter A. Neenan, Ph.D., Director of the Division of Research and Statistics, in a news release.

The state said that nearly 80% of the jobs added from 2003 to 2008 have been lost.

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/oswego/jobless-rate-remains-upstates-highest/

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