2300 government jobs, 2300? More proof that government thinks they have the answers…. How ridiculous is this…. People continue to leave at startling rates, jobs losses, businesses leaving but government grows and grows and grows.
I am convinced this is a sickness or maybe a mental illness, because they sure tell us one thing then do the complete opposite. At the same time all of them promise to create jobs but streamline and improve government… IT IS NOT THEIR JOB TO CREATE JOBS…. JOBS THAT WE HAVE TO PAY FOR.
The Buffalo News: Business: Despite losses, area adds 1,100 jobs
Unemployment rises to 6.2 percent
Buffalo Niagara added 1,100 jobs in March from a year ago, despite a drop in private-sector jobs.
The state Department of Labor said the region added jobs at a 0.2 percent annual pace. During the month, the region recorded a 1,200-job decline in private-sector positions, a decline of 0.3 percent from a year ago.
Buffalo Niagara’s unemployment rate shot up to 6.2 percent in March, from 4.9 percent a year ago. That was the region’s highest rate for March since 2004.
Two categories, manufacturing and construction, were weak spots.
Manufacturing accounted for a 1,700- job decline, due partly to the strike at American Axle & Manufacturing that started in late February. About 580 workers are on strike, but the effects have carried over to some other companies.
“We’re starting to see fallout from that and the other area auto plants,” said John Slenker, regional economist with the state Labor Department.
The region’s manufacturing job count was down 2.8 percent from March 2007.
Buffalo Niagara also recorded a 1,800- job decline in a category that includes construction jobs, a 10.5 percent drop from the year before. Slenker said that dropoff may be due to lenders and builders waiting to see how economic conditions unfold.
Helping to offset the job losses in Buffalo Niagara was a 2.4 percent increase in government jobs, amounting to 2,300 additional jobs from last March.
Tim O’Brien, managing director of Spherion Staffing Services in Rochester, said his firm had a strong level of activity coming out of March, but has seen things slow down entering April.
Even so, he said, opportunities for people with the necessary skills are plentiful in areas like engineering, where there is a backlog of opportunities.
“We are still seeing a demand for certain jobs,” O’Brien said.
Buffalo Niagara’s overall job growth rate of 0.2 percent lagged the statewide average of 0.8 percent, and the national average of 0.4 percent. The statewide unemployment rate was also significantly lower than Buffalo Niagara’s, at 5.1 percent.
The City of Buffalo’s jobless rate in March was 6.7 percent in March, compared to 5.4 percent a year ago. The rate for Niagara Falls was 8.7 percent, up from 7 percent in March 2007.
Tags: Erie County Insanity
