Albany>> New York’s manufacturing sector continued to lose jobs in December 2014, while most other private-sector job categories showed gains, according to the Monthly Economic Outlook released today by The Public Policy Institute of New York State (PPI). New York’s statewide unemployment rate in December was 5.7 percent compared to the 5.4-percent national rate.

Total private-sector employment in New York increased 1.5 percent to 7,692,800. Manufacturing jobs totaled 444,400 in December, 2014, a drop of 8,400 or 1.9 percent compared with the previous year. Other sectors that declined include Information, down 2.1 percent, and state and local government employment which showed slight losses of less than 1 percent.

Sectors showing the strongest year-over-year job growth were professional and business services (up 3.5 percent) and the education and heath sectors (up 2.1 percent).

“While private sector job growth is an encouraging sign overall, the continued decline in the manufacturing sector is a damper on the economy especially upstate, because manufacturing jobs are relatively high paying and have a strong multiplier effect meaning these jobs create jobs in other sectors,” said Heather C. Briccetti, president and CEO of The Business Council of New York State.

Year-over-year, upstate lost 4,800 manufacturing jobs. Slight increases in the Capital Region and Western New York were offset by losses in other regions.

Unemployment Data

New York’s unemployment rate continued to hover around [above] the national average at 5.7 percent. Regions and individual counties higher than the average were Glens Falls (6.0 percent), Binghamton and Utica-Rome at 6.1 percent, Chautauqua County at 6.4 percent and Montgomery County at 6.8 percent. The Ithaca region had the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 3.5 percent.

The Public Policy Institute (PPI) is the research arm of The Business Council of New York State, Inc.

“Monthly Economic Update,” and “Upstate New York Economic Snapshot” are based on federal and state jobs data, and provides business leaders and state policy makers with data on job growth over the past year, job recovery since the 2009 recession, and longer term job trends.