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Unemployment rises locally in December

skyline view of Rochester
Max Schulte
/
WXXI News
A skyline view of downtown Rochester.

The latest unemployment numbers show a rise in joblessness for the Rochester area in December. The unemployment rate stood at 5.0 percent, up from 4.7 percent in December of 2016.  The rate for November 2017 was 5.1 percent.

But NYS Labor analyst Tammy Marino says that 5.0 percent rate is still pretty close to the historical average for the month.

She does say that overall, it has appeared in recent months that the local job market is softening a bit.

“Employers locally have created nearly 13,000 new jobs since January of last year; in previous years, that number would have been closer to 15,000, so this may be an early indication for perhaps the first time in nearly seven years, job creation is beginning to slow somewhat.”

Marino says construction, along with education and health care, are sectors that have seen relatively strong growth over the last year.

She says weak areas of the local economy over the last year in terms of hiring included retail trade and manufacturing.

Last week, the state reported that the Rochester metro area lost 2,800 private sector jobs in December compared to December of 2016.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.