Westchester Lags in Jobs Production, August Data Shows

Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties added just 2,700 jobs between August 2013 and 2014, according to preliminary data released by the New York State Labor Department. That was a growth rate of just 0.5 percent.

That includes an additional 400 jobs in the farming and public sectors—and while it’s not really growth (0.1 percent higher than August 2013) it is a positive change, because communities in those counties have been shedding public sector jobs for some time.

Westchester, Putnam and Rockland lagged behind its fellow New York City suburbs. Nassau and Suffolk counties showed a August year-over-year growth rate of 1.6 percent in public and farming sector jobs. In the private sector the growth rate was 2.1 percent.

Overall, New York State’s private sector job count grew by 3,900, or 0.1 percent, in August 2014. This latest monthly employment gain raised New York State’s overall private sector job count to 7,605,000, an all-time high, Labor Department officials said.

The statewide unemployment rate declined from 6.6 percent to 6.4 percent in August 2014, its lowest level since late 2008. In addition, New York City’s unemployment rate dropped from 7.8 percent to 7.3 percent, marking the largest monthly drop in nearly 40 years—as far as records go back.