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According to New York State employment figures released on Thursday, the Westchester-Rockland-Putnam region added 6,200 net jobs in March, an increase of 1.1 percent over February. Total nonfarm payrolls in March were 557,100, up from 550,900.
The bulk of employment gains from February to March came from the services sector, accounting for 5,100 of the 6,200-job increase. Within services, the drivers were leisure and hospitality (+2,300), education and health services (+1,600), and trade, transportation, and utilities (+1,200). The financial activities sector, on the other hand, saw a net decrease of 400 jobs in March.
Looking at year-over-year data, the picture is less rosy. Form March 2013 to March 2014, the tri-county area saw a net increase of just 1,600 (+0.3 percent) jobs across nonfarm payrolls (nonfarm comprises the private sector and government). That falls short of a 10,600 net gain for the Nassau-Suffolk region (+0.8 percent), and a 3,800 net gain for the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown metro area (+1.5 percent), saying nothing of the 73,600 gain in New York City (+1.9 percent).
Statewide, the unemployment rate ticked up by 0.1 percent to 6.9 percent thanks to a growing labor force. The national unemployment rate is 6.7 percent.
