HUDSON VALLEY – In July 2020, the number of private-sector jobs in New York State increased over the month by 244,200, or 3.6%, to 7,116,200, according to preliminary figures released Thursday by the New York State Department of Labor.
By way of comparison, the U.S. private-sector job count grew by 1.3% in July 2020.New York State’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 15.6% to 15.9% in July 2020. In July 2020, the number of unemployed New York State residents increased by 60,000, while labor force levels increased by 204,800. The increase in the unemployment rate, despite New York State adding 244,200 private-sector jobs, may be explained by a combination of the use of different data sources for the two figures, the use of statistical regression models to determine the unemployment rate, a growing labor force, and the impact of out-of-state workers, among other factors.
For the 12-month period ending July 2020, private-sector job count in the Hudson Valley fell by 114,500, or 13.9 percent, to 711,800. Losses were greatest in leisure and hospitality, losing 45,900 jobs. Trade, transportation, and utilities lost 18,200 jobs, professional and business services saw a loss of 15,500, educational and
health services lost 10,600, other services -10,300, natural resources, mining and construction -6,700, manufacturing -4,700, and financial activities -2,000.
The July 2020 over-the-year job losses continue to reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. At 711,800, the private-sector job count has reached its lowest July level since 1998.
Within the region, the Orange-Rockland-Westchester labor market area’s private employment sector declined the fastest year-over-year, down 14.6 percent. They were followed by the Dutchess-Putnam MSA down 12.6%, Sullivan County down 11.8%, and the Kingston MSA is down 8.7%.
