Private Sector Jobs Continue To Increase In NY: Labor Department

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — According to preliminary seasonally adjusted figures released Thursday by the New York State Department of Labor, private sector jobs in New York and in the Hudson Valley continue to increase.

The state’s unemployment rate decreased slightly, from 4.6 percent in December 2023 to 4.5 percent in January 2024. Outside of New York City, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.0 percent in January 2024.

The level of unemployment has returned approximately to pre-pandemic levels, though the size of the labor force is still lower.

Statewide, private sector jobs rose in New York by 1.5 percent over the year in January 2024, only slightly less than the 1.8 percent increase in the number of private sector jobs in the U.S.

In 2023, the Mid-Hudson region had three of the five metro areas where private sector jobs increased most rapidly:

• New York City (+2.8%)
• Glens Falls (+2.1%)
• Orange-Rockland-Westchester (+2.1%)
• Buffalo-Niagara Falls (+1.8%)
• Kingston (+1.8%)

The number of private sector jobs in New York State is based on a payroll survey of New York businesses conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS calculates New York State’s unemployment rate based partly upon the results of the monthly Current Population Survey of approximately 3,100 households in the state.