Sullivan Co. tops region's job gains — again

Casino has been open for 5 months

Employment increased across the Mid-Hudson Valley and Catskills in June, led again by growth in Sullivan County, where a Las Vegas-style casino opened early this year.

The monthly employment report issued Thursday by the New York State Department of Labor showed there were 2,100 more nonfarm jobs in Sullivan in June 2018 than there were in June 2017, a jump of 7.5 percent. The new Resorts World Catskills casino opened this past February in the Sullivan County town of Thompson.

Sullivan’s nonfarm job total in May was 30,000, 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 most other local counties last month than it was a year earlier, the new report shows.

In Ulster County, the nonfarm job total rose by 900, or 1.4 percent, in the June-to-June span to reach a total of 64,500, according to the labor statistics. The Dutchess-Putnam Metropolitan Division, which comprises all of both counties, gained 2,300 nonfarm jobs, a 1.5 percent increase, during the same period to reach a total of 150,800.

Columbia County added 100 nonfarm jobs, or 0.4 percent, in the 12-month period to reach a total of 24,600. The Greene County total was unchanged at 15,500.

Elsewhere in the region from June 2017 to June 2018, the state labor office said:

• The Orange-Rockland-Westchester Metropolitan Division added 8,800 nonfarm jobs, or 1.2 percent, to finish the period at 739,300.

• Delaware County’s nonfarm job total rose by 200, or 1.3 percent, to 15,500.

In the private sector alone from June 2017 to June 2018, the department said:

• Ulster County added 900 jobs, or 1.8 percent.

• The Dutchess-Putnam Metropolitan Division gained 2,200 jobs, or 1.8 percent.

• The Orange-Rockland-Westchester Metropolitan Division added 7,600 jobs, or 1.2 percent.

The statewide unemployment rate in June 2018 was 4.5 percent, unchanged from the month before and down from 4.7 percent in June 2017, the Department of Labor said.