Sullivan County leads local job gains
The casino gamble in Sullivan County continues to pay dividends when it comes to job creation.
The monthly employment report issued Thursday by the New York State Department of Labor showed there were 2,000 more nonfarm jobs in Sullivan in April 2018 than there were in April 2017, a jump of 7.7 percent. The new Resorts World Catskills casino opened this past February in the Sullivan County town of Thompson.
Sullivan’s nonfarm job total in April was 28,000, the labor office said.
Nonfarm employment — which includes all positions in the private and public sectors, with the exception of those in agriculture — also was higher in other local counties last month than it was a year earlier, the new report shows.
In Ulster County, the nonfarm job total rose by 700, or 1.1 percent, in the April-toApril span to reach a total of 62,200, according to the labor statistics. The DutchessPutnam Metropolitan Division, which comprises all of both counties, gained 2,700 nonfarm jobs, a 1.8 percent increase, during the same period.
Greene County gained 400 nonfarm jobs, an impressive 2.8 percent jump, in the 12-month period, to reach a total of 14,500, the labor department said. Columbia County added 200 nonfarm jobs, or 0.9 percent, to reach a total of 21,600.
Elsewhere in the region from April 2017 to April 2018, the state labor office said:
• The Orange-RocklandWestchester Metropolitan Division added 4,900 nonfarm jobs, or 0.7 percent, to finish the period at 717,400.
• Delaware County’s nonfarm job total rose by 100, or 0.7 percent, to 15,100.
In the private sector alone from April 2017 to April 2018, the department said:
• Ulster County added 900 jobs, or 1.9 percent.
• The Dutchess-Putnam Metropolitan Division gained 2,700 jobs, or 2.2 percent.
• The Orange-RocklandWestchester Metropolitan Division added 3,300 jobs, or 0.5 percent.
The statewide unemployment rate in April 2018 was 4.6 percent, the same as the previous month and down from 4.7 percent in April 2017, the Department of Labor said.