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Unemployment Rates (not seasonally adjusted) Utica-Rome MSA (Oneida and Herkimer Counties)
The unemployment rate rose from 8.1 percent in January 2009 to 8.7 percent in January 2010 due to the continuing effects of the national recession. The jobless rate increased from December 2009 to January 2010 following the historical trend of seasonal layoffs. The increase in the jobless rate from December to January follows the historical trend. In the past 10 years, the rate had increased from December to January every year. In the past 10 years, the jobless rate has increased 4 times, decreased 3 times, and remained the same 3 times. For February, expect little or no change in the jobless rate. Change in nonfarm jobs since January 2010Net change -200 For the 12-month period ending January 2010, the nonfarm job count in the Utica-Rome metro area decreased by 200, or 0.2 percent, to 127,900, its lowest January level since January 1998. Nonfarm jobs in the Utica-Rome metro area declined by 0.2 percent from January 2009 to January 2010. Employment declines in the state (-2.2 percent) and nation (-3.0 percent) were much worse. However, in the previous 5 years, from January 2003 to January 2008, Utica-Rome's nonfarm job count increased by only 1.0 percent, compared with much larger increases at the state (+4.5 percent) and national (+5.9 percent) levels. The Utica-Rome area, like many Upstate areas, lagged in the economic recovery following the 2001 recession. Thus, the latest downturn has not affected the local area to the degree that it has impacted the nation or state. Local job losses occurred in manufacturing (-900), government (-400), trade, transportation and utilities (-400), financial activities (-300) and information (-100). Job losses in trade, transportation and utilities (-400) occurred in transportation, warehousing and utilities (-200), retail trade (-100) and wholesale trade (-100). Government job losses (-400) occurred in local government (-400) and state government (-200). Federal government added 200 jobs over the year. Manufacturing employment has declined 11,500 or 51 percent since January 1990. Most of that decline occurred since January 2000 (-7,800). Job gains occurred in educational and health services (+1,400), primarily in health services. The educational and health services sector has proved to be recession-proof, reaching its highest January employment level on record in January 2010. Since 1990 employment in education and health services has increased 12,000 or 79 percent. In fact, over the 1990 - 2010 time period, educational and health services employment has never declined from its previous January level.Bad News Empire Aero Center, an aircraft maintenance center located in Rome's Griffiss Business and Technology Park (Oneida County), has filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice to its 203 employees indicating that the company may close in May if a buyer for the firm is not found before then. The potential closure is attributed to the national economic downturn and its impact on the aviation industry. In 2009, Empire laid off workers in February, March and November reducing their workforce by over 150 employees. More than $27 million in county, state, and other grant money has been invested in the structures used by Empire. Mohawk Valley Community College has developed an aircraft maintenance program in conjunction with the company’s presence in Rome. (R&S staff participated in an initial meeting with Empire management to lay out the Rapid Response process and to offer dislocated worker assistance services.) Covidien, a medical supply manufacturer located in Oriskany Falls (Oneida County), has announced that they will be closing the Oriskany facility dislocating 185 full-time and 13 temporary employees. The layoffs will begin in August and employees will be let go in waves ending in the middle of 2011. The layoff is attributed to the economy and a company restructuring.
Focus on the Mohawk Valley National Recession Finally Hits the Mohawk Valley
By Mark Barbano, Regional Economist, Mohawk Valley Region The current national recession, which officially started in December 2007, finally arrived with a vengeance in the Mohawk Valley region (Fulton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Oneida, Otsego and Schoharie counties) in the third quarter of 2008. This article reviews how the Mohawk Valley is weathering the latest recessionary storm, how certain key industries have fared, and how this latest slump compares to previous ones in the region. According to data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program, the economic downturn did not hit the Mohawk Valley until summer 2008. During the first and second quarters of 2008, the region’s total job count had been running 400-500 above year-earlier levels. However, the region experienced a reversal of fortune in third quarter 2008 as the regional employment count fell 760 below year-ago levels. Over-the-year job losses in the region worsened significantly in fourth quarter 2008 (-1,270) and first quarter 2009 (-4,220). How Industries Fared During This Recession Not surprisingly, manufacturing has been hit the hardest of any sector in the region; employment fell by 1,580 between 2008 and 2009. (Note: In this analysis, 2009 refers to the first quarter of 2009 and 2008 refers to the first quarter of 2008.) Factory job reductions were widespread, but concentrated in printing and related support activities, primary metals, wood products and machinery. In 2009, the region’s sole bright spot in manufacturing was transportation equipment, which grew to its highest jobs level since 2001. Over the longer term, the region’s manufacturers have suffered significant job losses, with sector employment dropping 36.6 percent between 2000 and 2009. The trade, transportation and utilities sector experienced the second steepest set of job cuts (-1,030) in the region between 2008 and 2009. Most of the decline occurred in retail trade (-870), due in part to losses at motor vehicles and parts dealers brought on by weakened demand for new cars. Other retail job shrinkage was centered in building material and garden supply stores; health and personal care stores; and gasoline stations. Employment drops in warehousing and storage also contributed to the decline; this industry peaked in 2007 following expansion at the numerous distribution centers in the region. Over the 2008-2009 timeframe, professional and business services suffered the third largest employment decline (-790) of any sector in the Mohawk Valley. More than half of this sector’s drop occurred in temporary help agencies (-410) -- typically among the first to contract after the onset of a downturn in the economy. Natural resources, mining and construction (-540) and financial activities (-460) also experienced relatively large employment shrinkage between 2008 and 2009. The job trimming in the former sector was centered in specialty trade contractors and construction of buildings. The loss in the latter was due in part to the closing of the Federal Reserve’s check processing facility in Oneida County, as well as employment drops at commercial banking and insurance companies. The Mohawk Valley’s educational and health services sector has been virtually “recessionproof” during this downturn. With almost 39,000 employees in the first quarter of 2009 and total wages of $1.35 billion paid during the trailing 12-month period, it is one of the largest sectors in the region. Moreover, it was the only sector where employment grew (+740) between 2008 and 2009. Over the 2000-2009 period, jobs in this sector increased every year, growing by a total of 6,730 or 21.1 percent. Long-term projections for the 2006-2016 suggest this trend will continue; sector employment is expected to increase by 13.3 percent over this 10-year span. Not Back to the Future There are several differences between this downturn and the 2001 recession. First, this recession has been much more severe; total jobs dropped by 4,220 (-2.2 percent) between 2008 and 2009. During the last recession (2001-2002), the local job loss was 2,660 (-1.4 percent). A second important difference is that in 2001 manufacturing dominated local job losses. From 2001 to 2002, the job count in manufacturing fell by 2,850, or 10.5 percent, as factory job losses actually exceeded total losses in the region -- gains in other sectors offset some of the manufacturing job losses. However, during the current downturn, manufacturing losses represent less than 40 percent of the region’s total job decline. Looking ahead, recovery in the region’s labor market will likely lag any advances in overall economic conditions. However, if the national economic picture improves, the outlook for the Mohawk Valley region should gradually follow.
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
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