Employment totals rise, but some weakness evident

Employment grew in the Mid-Hudson and Catskills during the 12-month period ending March 31, though gains were soft in the statistical area that includes Dutchess County, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.

The Dutchess-Putnam Metropolitan Division, which comprises all of both counties, gained only 200 nonfarm jobs, or 0.1 percent, during the period, according to labor department data.

Ulster County added 600 nonfarm jobs during the 12-month span, a gain of 1 percent, to reach a March 2017 total of 61,100, the labor office said.

The Dutchess-Putnam nonfarm jobs total at the end of March was 143,400.

Nonfarm jobs include all positions in the private and public sectors, with the exception of those in agriculture.

Greene County gained 700 nonfarm jobs, a strong 4.8 percent, in the March-to-March period, to reach a total of 15,200, the labor department said. Columbia County gained 200 jobs, or 0.9 percent, during the same period, to reach a total of 21,400.

Elsewhere in the region from March 2016 to March 2017, the state labor office said:

• Delaware County’s nonfarm job total was unchanged at 15,100.

• Sullivan County gained 700 nonfarm jobs, or 2.8 percent, to reach 25,600.

• The Orange-Rockland-Westchester Metropolitan Division added 7,700 nonfarm jobs, or 1.1 percent, to finish the period at 704,400.

In the private sector alone from February 2016 to February 2017, the department said:

• Ulster County added 500 jobs, or 1.1 percent.

• The Dutchess-Putnam Metropolitan Division’s total was unchanged.

• The Orange-Rockland-Westchester Metropolitan Division added 6,600 jobs, or 1.1 percent.

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

The statewide unemployment rate in March 2017 was 4.3 percent, down from 4.4 percent the month before and down from 4.8 percent in March 2016, the Department of Labor said.