Unemployment up slightly in the Hudson Valley

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Credit Burt Lum

WHITE PLAINS – Unemployment in all counties in the region rose in December 2012 when compared to the same month in 2011, but, that is not necessarily a bad thing.

State Labor Department officials said more people have entered or re-entered the workforce, but there are not enough jobs for all of them and that has resulted in the rise in the rate of joblessness.

Analyst James Brown said the situation will likely get better as the new year progresses.

“The job growth actually slowed a little recently”, Brown said.  “I expect it to accelerate in 2013 and since we had growth with modest population growth in the Hudson Valley, we shouldn’t continue to get strong labor force growth.”

Sullivan County continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the region at 10 percent in December. Putnam County has the lowest rate, at 6.3 percent. Putnam has the second lowest rate in the state, second only to Tompkins County.

Rockland County, at 6.6 percent unemployment, was ranked third in the state followed by Westchester County, with seven percent, ranking fourth overall.

Dutchess and Columbia counties both ranked 11th with 7.5 percent unemployment each in December.

Orange County had a rate of 7.9 percent, Ulster County had 8.4 percent and Greene County had 9.5 percent unemployment.