Job growth in the region continued at its modest – but steady – pace in March, with the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metro area adding 3,200 mostly private sector jobs over the previous 12 months, the state Labor Department reported Thursday.
The region added jobs at a pace of 0.6 percent over the period between March 2013 and March of this year, a slightly slower pace than the 0.9 percent annualized growth for the 12 months ending in February and the 0.8 percent for the 12 months ending in January.
The March jobs data put the Buffalo area in a tie for fifth among the 14 largest metro areas in the state, though the region’s growth rate was half the statewide rate of 1.2 percent and well behind the national rate of 1.6 percent, according to the Labor Department.
Looking at private sector jobs alone, the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metro area gained 3,100 jobs over the previous 12 months, at an annual growth rate of 0.7 percent.
Overall, New York added 103,600 jobs over the 12 months ending in March, with the state adding 108,200 private sector jobs and losing 4,600 government jobs. Soaring job totals in the educational and health services sector offset further losses in the manufacturing and financial arenas.
The statewide unemployment rate crept up from 6.8 percent in February to 6.9 percent in March, as more people felt confident enough to enter the job market, though New York’s jobless rate has fallen sharply from the 7.9 percent rate in March 2013. The national jobless rate remained unchanged between February and March at 6.7 percent.
Compared to its peer metro areas in the state, the 0.6 percent rate of job growth over the previous 12 months for Buffalo-Niagara Falls bested the rates for Putnam-Rockland-Westchester counties (0.3 percent), Albany-Schenectady-Troy (flat), Rochester (0.4 percent) and Syracuse, (dropped 0.5 percent).
The region’s annual job growth lagged the rates for New York City (1.9 percent), Kingston (1.9 percent) and Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown (1.5 percent).
email: swatson@buffnews.com
The region added jobs at a pace of 0.6 percent over the period between March 2013 and March of this year, a slightly slower pace than the 0.9 percent annualized growth for the 12 months ending in February and the 0.8 percent for the 12 months ending in January.
The March jobs data put the Buffalo area in a tie for fifth among the 14 largest metro areas in the state, though the region’s growth rate was half the statewide rate of 1.2 percent and well behind the national rate of 1.6 percent, according to the Labor Department.
Looking at private sector jobs alone, the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metro area gained 3,100 jobs over the previous 12 months, at an annual growth rate of 0.7 percent.
Overall, New York added 103,600 jobs over the 12 months ending in March, with the state adding 108,200 private sector jobs and losing 4,600 government jobs. Soaring job totals in the educational and health services sector offset further losses in the manufacturing and financial arenas.
The statewide unemployment rate crept up from 6.8 percent in February to 6.9 percent in March, as more people felt confident enough to enter the job market, though New York’s jobless rate has fallen sharply from the 7.9 percent rate in March 2013. The national jobless rate remained unchanged between February and March at 6.7 percent.
Compared to its peer metro areas in the state, the 0.6 percent rate of job growth over the previous 12 months for Buffalo-Niagara Falls bested the rates for Putnam-Rockland-Westchester counties (0.3 percent), Albany-Schenectady-Troy (flat), Rochester (0.4 percent) and Syracuse, (dropped 0.5 percent).
The region’s annual job growth lagged the rates for New York City (1.9 percent), Kingston (1.9 percent) and Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown (1.5 percent).
email: swatson@buffnews.com