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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 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. For more information on expansions and contractions at businesses located in Herkimer, Madison and Oneida counties please visit: http://www.labor.state.ny.us/workforceindustrydata/moh/mohec.shtm Information compiled by the Labor
Market Analysts of the |
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