Unemployment in Oswego County hit its highest point in the last 17 years in January.
The New York State Labor Department reports joblessness in the county soared to 11.6% in January. That’s the highest point for unemployment since Feb., 1993, when the rate was also 11.6%.
The jobless rate jumped 1.2 percentage points from December, 2009 to January, 2010.
Unemployment has been higher than 11.6% only 5 times in the last 20 years — a span of 240 months. The aveage jobless rate for 2009 was 9.7%, the third highest annual average in the last 20 years.
The rise in the rate was driven primarily by an increase in the labor force. 500 more people were either employer or unemployed in January than in the month before. The number of people listed as employed fell by 300 people while the number of people listed as unemployed rose by 800.
Oswego County’s unemployment rate is the highest among all Upstate New York counties, and second-highest in the state to the 14% jobless rate found in Bronx borough of New York City.
The state’s jobless rate rose sharply as well, to 9.4%, as state officials said that the recession as claimed more than 350,000 jobs across New York State.
“Our newly-revised jobs data indicate that the impact of the national recession on New York State’s economy was deeper than first estimated. Between 2008 and 2009, the drop in New York State’s private sector job count increased from 183,300 to 245,400. In addition, new labor force data show that the state’s average annual unemployment rate climbed from 5.3 percent in 2008 to 8.4 percent in 2009, its highest level since 1992,” said Peter A. Neenan, Ph.D., director of the Division of Research and Statistics.
[table id=10]
missing or outdated ad config
And to think the Oswego City School Dist. wants to raise the school tax next year? Theyshould be thinking of ways of reducing their payroll and decreasing the tax assessment.