For the 12-month period ending in September 2012, private sector employment in the Hudson Valley Region increased 7,000 or 0.9 percent. Employment gains were strongest in educational and health services (+6,300), followed by professional and business services (+2,800), trade, transportation and utilities (+2,500), financial activities (+1,200), and other services (+600).

 

Job losses were centered in the following industries: natural resources, mining and construction (-4,100), manufacturing (-1,800), and information (-600). The government sector shed 1,600 jobs over the year.

 

In September, the Putnam-Rockland-Westchester labor market area was the driving force behind total job growth in the region’s private sector. The lower Hudson valley area’s private sector employment grew by1.3 percent or 6,100 jobs, accounting for almost 90 percent of total jobs gained in the region. 

 

Overall, educational and health services, the region’s largest private sector employer has continued to perform well, expanding over the period by 3.4 percent or 6,300 jobs; its largest over the year increase since 1999. Meanwhile the region’s manufacturing sector recorded its largest over the year decline in nearly 2 ½ years, shedding 1,800 jobs or 3.7 percent of its workforce.