Recent
Labor Market Developments:
Utica-Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area
Unemployment
Rates (not seasonally adjusted)
Utica-Rome MSA (Oneida
and Herkimer Counties)
March 2008
February 2008
March 2007
5.9%
6.1%
4.8%
Current
Employment Statistics
For the 12-month
period ending March 2008, the total nonfarm job count in the Utica-Rome
metro area increased 600, or 0.5 percent, to 131,800, the highest
job total for the month of March since 2001. Job gains occurred
in Government (+500), Educational and Health Services (+400), Leisure
and Hospitality (+300), Natural Resources, Mining and Construction
(+200) and Other Services (+100).
Losses were
recorded in Manufacturing (-500) and Financial Activities (-400).
Additional declines are expected in April in the Financial Activities
sector due to the closing of the Federal Reserve’s check processing
facility, located in Oriskany, at the end of March.
Good
News
Simplicity
Manufacturing Inc.-Ferris Division has received a $1.4 million tax
break on a warehouse it leases in Sherrill (Oneida County) at the
former Oneida Ltd. manufacturing facility. As part of the agreement,
Ferris must employ 30 workers at the warehouse within 5 years and
maintain at least 323 employees at its manufacturing facility in
Munnsville (Madison County). The tax break is needed for Ferris
to become a regional distribution center for Simplicity lawn and
garden equipment.
Empire Aero
Center, located in the Griffiss Business and Technology Park in
Rome (Oneida County), has a workforce of 400 and a backlog of aircraft
to be serviced as a result of increased sales in 2007. To allow
for continued business expansion Empire is now planning to move
into 2 more former Air Force hangars in the business park over the
next 2 years. Empire plans to have a workforce of 700 working in
6 hangars in the park by 2011; currently the company adds approximately
10 workers per month.
Focus
on the Mohawk Valley
The
Mohawk Valley’s Export Industries By Mark Barbano, Labor Market Analyst, Mohawk Valley Region (Excerpted from the February 2008 issue of the Employment in
New York State newsletter)
What’s in a name?
Some places earn their nicknames from their dominant industry. For
example, the automotive sector gives Detroit the title of “Motor
City,” Hollywood is acknowledged as the “Film Capital
of the World,” and Akron is known as the “Rubber Capital
of the World.” Other areas defined by local industries include
the southern part of the San Francisco Bay area known as “Silicon
Valley,” and Hershey, which easily earns the sobriquet “Chocolate
Town.” But what industries define the Mohawk Valley region?
Location
Quotients
Aside from
looking at industry employment totals, one of the most useful ways
to assess which industries are important to a region’s economy
is to review their local job concentration. We do this with a tool
called a location quotient (LQ). To calculate an LQ, divide the
percentage of a region’s employment in an industry by the
percentage of total national employment in that industry. For example,
if an industry accounts for 10 percent of jobs in the Mohawk Valley
but only 2 percent of national employment, then that industry’s
LQ is 5.0 (i.e., 10%÷2%). LQs significantly greater than
1.0 (usually above 1.25) typically indicate that a region specializes
in that industry and that the industry exports to areas outside
the region.
Local
Export Industries
What are some
industries in the Mohawk Valley with high LQs? At 11.08, leather
and allied product manufacturing easily has the highest LQ in the
region. The industry is centered in Fulton County and employs 590
locally. The industry’s average wage was $36,300 in 2006,
higher than the average of $31,800 for all industries in the region.
However, since 2000 this industry's employment count has declined
35 percent. Occupations in the leather industry include shoe and
leather workers and repairers, sewing machine operators, inspectors
and sales representatives.
The LQ for the
Mohawk Valley’s warehousing and storage industry is 5.10.
The region is home to distribution centers for companies such as
Wal-Mart, Target, Rite-Aid, and Family Dollar. With total employment
of 4,665 in 2006, it is the largest of the export industries profiled
here. Job growth in this industry has been robust, more than doubling
since 2000. Annual industry wages averaged $31,400 in 2006. Representative
occupations include laborers, stock clerks and order fillers, shipping
and receiving clerks, industrial truck operators, hand packers and
packagers and truck drivers.
Primary metal
manufacturing, with a location quotient of 4.50, employed 3,028
in the Mohawk Valley in 2006. This industry’s employment is
well below historical highs, it still rose 11.6 percent from 2003
to 2006. This rate compares favorably to the 7.0 percent decline
experienced by all other local manufacturing industries over the
same period. The average wage in this industry was $43,700 in 2006,
37.2 percent higher than the region’s average wage. Representative
industries include copper wire and aluminum extruded products. Prevalent
occupations include furnace operators, material moving laborers,
extruding and drawing machine operators, and rolling machine operators.
The local textile
mills industry has a location quotient of 2.32. Local industry employment,
which is centered in Fulton and Montgomery counties, totaled 654
in 2006, while the average wage was $35,800. The industry’s
job count has been in long-term decline, dropping 790 (or almost
55 percent) between 2000 and 2006. However, employment levels have
been relatively steady since 2002. Occupations in this industry
include sales representatives, textile knitting and weaving machine
operators, textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators, sewing
machine operators and coating, painting and spraying machine operators.
Summary
Although the
four export industries profiled here only account for about 5 percent
of total employment in the Mohawk Valley, their high location quotients
indicate they play a key role in the region’s economy by bringing
in money from outside the region. These funds, in turn, produce
additional income and employment within the region. Most of these
export industries have wage levels at or above the region’s
average. And while some industries, such as leather and allied product
manufacturing, have declined markedly in recent years, other, newer
industries have grown robustly. The “Warehousing and Storage
Capital of New York State” may not be as catchy a phrase as
the “Motor City” or “Silicon Valley,” but
this industry plays an integral part in the region’s economy.
Information compiled by the Labor
Market Analysts of the
Division of Research and Statistics
New York State Department of Labor
Mohawk Valley Regional Office
(315) 793-2282