Private sector employment in the Hudson Valley Region increased 10,700 or 1.4 percent, to 754,200 for the 12-month period ending August 2012. Employment gains were strongest in educational and health services (+5,000), followed by professional and business services (+3,700), trade, transportation and utilities (+3,500), leisure and hospitality (+1,700), information (+1,400), and financial activities (+800). Meanwhile, job losses were centered in the following industries: natural resources, mining and construction (-4,200), and manufacturing (-1,500). The government sector shed 500 jobs over the year.

 

Although private sector job count continues to trend positive, job losses in the construction sector have remained a concern. In August, the construction industry recorded its biggest over the year decline in employment since the depth of the recession in 2009. The sector has continued to reel from the collapse of the housing market, shedding 4,200 jobs over the period. However, it should be noted that more than fifty percent of job losses in the construction industry is concentrated in the Putnam-Rockland-Westchester labor market area.