Chautauqua County has lost the most jobs in the state among rural areas over the past year.
According to state Labor Department statistics, the county has lost 4,600 jobs from January 2020 to January 2021. That number is the most in the state for non-metropolitan areas, with Otsego County’s 2,900 jobs lost the next-highest number. The county lost 9.4% of its jobs in the past year — as a percentage of total jobs lost, the county’s job losses are fourth only to Seneca County (12.6%), Otsego County (11.8%) and Sullivan County (9.5%) among non-metropolitan counties.
The state’s metropolitan areas have been harder hit than rural counties. Statewide, the state lost 1,068,700 jobs from January 2020 to January 2021, or 11.1% of its non-farm jobs. New York City (-13.7%) was the hardest hit, followed by Kingston (9.6%), Elmira (9.2%), Dutchess-Putnam (9.2%) and Nassau-Suffolk (8.9%).
According to preliminary figures released today by the New York State Department of Labor, the number of private sector jobs in New York State increased over the month by 29,400, or 0.4%, to 7,323,500 in January 2021. By comparison, the number of private sector jobs in the U.S. increased by less than 0.1% in January 2021.
No sector of the economy was spared in Chautauqua County over the past 12 months, though the biggest losses came in service providing businesses, which lost 3,700 jobs (9.6%). Manufacturing lost 800 jobs (9.2%) while goods producing businesses lost 900 jobs (8.7%). THe county’s leisure and hospitality industry lost 800 jobs (16%) while education and health services lost 900 jobs (11.1%).
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