Local job totals increase modestly

The Mid-Hudson Valley and Catskills experienced moderate job growth in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, according to data released by Thursday by the state Department of Labor.

Ulster County added 1,600 nonfarm jobs, a 2.6 percent gain, from September 2015 to September 2016, reaching a total of 62,500, the labor office said. Nonfarm jobs include all private-sector and government jobs, excluding jobs in agriculture.

The state-designated Dutchess-Putnam Metropolitan Region, which includes all of Dutchess and Putnam counties, added 1,900 nonfarm jobs, or 1.3 percent, during the same period to reach a total 146,300, according to the labor department.

Elsewhere in the region during the September-toSeptember period:

• Greene County gained just 100 nonfarm jobs, or 1.7 percent, closing out at 15,000.

• Columbia County lost 100 nonfarm jobs, or 0.5 percent, to settle at 21,700.

• Delaware County nonfarm employment was unchanged at 15,400.

• Sullivan County gained 300 nonfarm jobs, or 1.2 percent, to reach 26,300.

• The Orange-RocklandWestchester Metropolitan Division added 11,100 nonfarm jobs, or 1.6 percent, to reach 710,700.

In the private sector alone, Ulster County added 1,900 positions, a 4 percent gain, from September 2015 to September 2016, the state labor office said. That was the second-best percentage gain in the state during the 12-month span, behind the Ithaca area at 7 percent.

The Dutchess-Putnam Metropolitan Region added 1,800 private-sector jobs, or 1.5 percent, while the Orange-Rockland-Westchester Metropolitan Division gained 10,600 private-sector jobs, or 1.8 percent.

The state does not provide private-sector jobs data for rural counties.

The state as a whole had a 1.3 percent gain in nonfarm employment and a 1.5 percent gain in nonfarm jobs during the September-to-September period, but it lost jobs in both categories from August to September 2016. The nonfarm drop for the one-month period was 1,400; the private-sector decline was 4,400.

The state unemployment rate last month was 5 percent, up slightly from the 4.8 percent rate in August but even with the rate from a year earlier.