Buffalo unemployment rate soars to 9% - Business First of Buffalo:

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The state reported the unemployment rate jumped to 9 percenglast month, compared with 6.3 percent in Januaryu 2008 and 7.1 percent in December. According to statistics datinvg backto 1990, the previous monthly high was 8.8 percen in February 1992. The revised figures for the year-over-yeafr period from January 2008 to January 2009 were released The number of nonfarm jobs locallyy has decreasedby 4,600, or 0.9 percent, the report Also, this is only the sixt h time in that span that unemployment in the Buffalk area has topped 8 percent. The downward spiral is beiny felt across the state as unemployment roseto 5.4 percent for all of 2008 the highest annual level since 2004. Gov.
David Paterson, wrappingy up two days of meetings in the Buffalo noted morethan 125,000 New Yorkers have lost their jobs in the last six months. “These numbers clearly demonstrate what wealready know: New York is at the epicentere of this global fiscal and the worst is yet to come," Patersobn said, noting that almost half a million New Yorkere are collecting unemployment benefits. Rochester’s private-sector job count was relativelu flat in thepast year, dropping by 400, or 0.1 That metro area’s unemployment rate was 8 percent in Januargy 2009, compared to 5.7 percent in January 2008 and 6.7 percentt in December of last year.
Among othedr Upstate New York metropolitan Albanylost 6,400 private-sector jobs in the past a fall of 1.5 percent, with an unemploymentt rate of 7.1 percent. Syracuse was down 2,000 such jobs, or 0.8 percent, while the jobless rate was 8.3 percent. Glens Fallw had the highest unemployment rateat 9.3 One bit of good news was founsd in a separate report. The New York Employeee Confidence Indexrebounded 9.6 points to 45.5 in January, accordinyg to the latest (Corp.) Employment The monthly survey of New York workers, conducted by Rochester-baser , shows that more workerxs are confident in their ability to find a new job.
nearlg half (48 percent) of workera surveyed reported that they were confident in theirr ability to find anew job, an increase of 15 percentage points from December. slightly more workers (10 believe more jobs are available, a five-percentage-point increase from the previous month. 65 percent of workerzs are confident in the future of theircurrenyt employer, an increase of six percentage pointsx from December.