Unemployment fell again in the Rochester area in September, according to numbers just released by the NYS Labor Department. The unemployment rate was 4.9 percent, compared to 4.8 percent in August, and 5.4 percent in September of a year ago.
State Labor Analyst Tammy Marino notes that this region saw an increase of 7,600 private sector jobs compared to last year at this time.
"The latest numbers were fueled by hiring in a diverse set of employers, so we had the educational sector, health care, retail sector all hiring, the one weak spot remains our manufacturing sector where employment did decline once again in September."
Marino does note that the size of the area labor force has been shrinking in the last several years, partly due to demographic factors.
"This trend has reversed itself in recent months, and this really is due to the improving economy, helping to bring back many of the individuals that had been sitting on the sidelines for so long."
She says this region has seen steady job growth in recent months. Marino says since the end of the recession six years ago, the Rochester Metro has regained all of the jobs that were lost to the recession and created an additional 13,000.
