Study: Area unemployment holds steady

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May 25, 2012

Study: Area unemployment holds steady

Denise Richardson Daily Star The Daily Star Fri May 25, 2012, 09:13 AM EDT

The number of private sector jobs in New York is at an all-time high, according to the state Labor Department, which also recently reported steady unemployment at 8.1 percent statewide in April.

Unemployment rates for April for Chenango, Delaware, Otsego and Schoharie counties ranged from 7.6 percent to 9.3 percent. The data reflected a bright spot generated by manufacturing jobs in Chenango County, a labor analyst said Thursday, and also that job seekers are returning to searches after dropping out of the market.

In Albany, state Senate Republicans said they want to see continued growth in private sector jobs, and toward that goal they will vote next week on the 2012 New Jobs-NY.

The bill is a plan to help create thousands of new private sector jobs by delivering tax relief to small businesses and manufacturers, reducing energy costs and enacting fiscal reforms to make New York more economically competitive, media releases from area lawmakers said.

The bill is sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Center. Sens. James Seward, R-Milford, and John Bonacic, R-Mount Hope, are promoting the proposed legislation.

“Job creation is clearly the key element we need to mend our state’s economy,’’ Bonacic said in a release. “Our plan will have a positive fiscal impact on small business owners, enabling them to expand and hire more employees. Reducing the cost burden of doing business and creating jobs is, and will continue to be, a top priority.’’

The Labor Department also reported that since the beginning of the state’s economic recovery in November 2009, the private sector has added 335,100 jobs and reached a record of 7.32 million jobs. Only five states, including New York, have more private sector jobs now than before the recession, a media release said.

The rates have been steady or risen instead of dropping because discouraged job seekers have returned, said Christian D. Harris, labor market analyst for the Southern Tier region with the Labor Departments’ research and statistics division.

Otsego County’s recent 7.6 percent unemployment, for example, is above the Labor Department’s “comfort level,’’ Harris said.

“We want to see a better pace to the recovery,’’ Harris said. Better rates would be about 4 percent or 5 percent unemployment, based on historical data, he said.

In Otsego County, the most recent April low was 4.3 percent unemployment in 2005, he said, and in April 2008, it was 5 percent.

While rates in Delaware, Otsego and Schoharie counties have risen between April 2011 and April this year, Chenango’s rate has been a steady, bright spot because of manufacturing jobs at the Chobani yogurt plant, Raymond Corp. and Unison Industries, Harris said.

Manufacturing job numbers are shrinking locally and nationally, in general, Harris said, and the shift to service jobs, including an array of retail and wholesale jobs, will continue. More growth is expected, and needed, in health care services and research and development jobs, he said.

In the Labor Department’s Oneonta office Thursday, Aerotek, a staffing agency based in Hanover, Md., was recruiting workers for Covidien in Hobart, Delaware County, Department manager Charles Masiola said, and Chobani in New Berlin is steadily seeking employees.

While the Oneonta office is working with firms to place workers, some employers hire by word of mouth, which means job seekers are encouraged to develop a network by telling people about their search, Masiola said.

“Talk to as many people as you can, so that when opportunities bubble up, you know about them,’’ Masiola said. “There really is a hidden job market.’’

Seward said fostering private sector job growth in upstate New York is key to strengthening communities and helping families improve their quality of life. The state has approved two “fiscally responsible state budgets’’ in the past two years, reduced government spending and enacted a historic property tax cap, he said, and the proposed tax cut and job creation plan will further stimulate the economy.

Senate Republicans first approved a small-business tax cut plan in its budget resolution in early March. However, the tax cuts were not included in the final 2012-13 state budget.

Seward communications director Jeff Bishop said businesses seeking to take advantage of the measures would file with the state Department of Tax and Finance for credits. Start dates for credits in general would take effect in the next fiscal year, he said.

Seward said the plan has tools that can be used by small-business owners, manufacturers and entrepreneurs.

“The proposal will also offer incentives for new companies to locate within the Empire State,” Seward said.

The Labor Department this month reported the unemployment percentage rates, not seasonally adjusted, listed below:

           April 2012       April 2011

Chenango:       7.9           8.1

Delaware:       8.7           8.4

Otsego:          7.6           7.2

Schoharie:        9.3           9.0

U.S.:            7.7           8.7

N.Y.:            8.1           7.7

Highlights of the Senate Republican’s New Jobs-NY plan, which is supported by statewide business organizations, include, according to the releases:

• Eliminating taxes on New York manufacturers: The plan would spur creation of thousands of manufacturing jobs by eliminating income taxes paid by manufacturers during a three-year period.

• 20 percent corporate tax cut for small businesses.

• Incentives for each new job created: The bill includes new job-creating incentives that would give businesses a tax credit of up to $5,000 for each new job they create, up to an $8,000 credit if the new job goes to someone on unemployment and up to a $10,000 credit if a business hires a returning military veteran.

• Help for small brewers: The plan includes a new production credit and label registration credit for New York’s craft brewing industry.

• Fiscal reforms to improve New York’s business climate: The plan includes a 2 percent state spending cap, a super-majority vote provision to make any future tax increases more difficult and new regulatory reforms to reduce red tape for businesses.