Published: November 20, 2009 02:00 am      

ECONOMY: Lockport's jobless rate is down, but more jobs lost

The unemployment rate is down in Lockport but so is the number of jobs.

In October, Lockport had a 9.1 percent unemployment rate, according to figures released Thursday by the state labor department. While it is an improvement from September’s 9.2 percent, October was higher than the 6.2 percent jobless rate of a year ago. In fact, unemployment was the worst Lockport has seen in an October.

“It’s an all-time high for the month,” said John Slenker, a Western New York state labor market analyst.

For October, the Buffalo/Niagara Falls region had an 8.3 percent unemployment rate, down from 8.4 percent in September but up from 5.7 percent a year ago. The labor department said the region also saw the number of nonfarm jobs decrease by 16,900 since October 2008. Private sector jobs decreased by 13,700 during the same time period.

There was some good news locally, as three industries showed a little more strength, Slenker said. Educational and health services, professional and business services and other services all showed gains in the number of jobs. Other services included jobs in the fields of religion, grantmaking, civic and professional organizations.

But for the area — Lockport especially, Slenker said — employment figures depend on manufacturing. Manufacturing and construction have been weak in the job market, and in order for employment to get better, the manufacturing industry would have to improve.

“Lockport is extremely dependent on the auto industry,” Slenker said.

General Motors’ purchasing of the Lockport plant was a good sign for the Upper Mountain Road facility, he said. But it’s going to take time to see how GM does before the auto industry can turn around, Slenker said.

“We have to be cautiously optimistic,” he said.

New York state lost 12,700, jobs in October, according to the labor department. Since the state went into recession in August 2008, New York’s private sector job count has declined in 13 of the past 14 months. The statewide total nonfarm job count, both private and public sectors, also decreased over the month by 15,300.

Between September and October, New York’s unemployment rate increased slightly to 9 percent, from 8.9 percent, its highest level since April 1983. The number of unemployed in the state also increased over the month, climbing to 872,000 in October, up from 867,300 in September. Still, the unemployment rate was better than the rest of the nation, which hit the 10.2 percent mark for last month.

“While employers in New York state continued to cut jobs over the past year, they did so at a more modest pace than those in the nation as a whole. In addition, the state’s unemployment rate remained well below the nation’s rate in October,” said Peter Neenan, director of the state Division of Research and Statistics.

Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.