Justin Wehner with the state Employment Development Department says the sector that gained the most jobs between September and October was government…both state and local…expanding by 4,600 jobs.
"Government did well month-over but year-over it's still down 1,300 jobs and is an industry that had the most amount of job declines in the past year."
Other sectors that added jobs month-over-month include:
education, health care and retail.
Those gains were offset by declines in leisure and hospitality
which lost 3,800 jobs as the summer travel season ended and fewer
people were staying in hotels and dining out. Construction also
declined by 2,400 jobs in October.
"That was also somewhat seasonal in nature. We saw a
buildup in construction leading into the summer months. So to see
proportional declines as the warm weather season wraps up is
understandable."
The current unemployment rate of 9.8% is well below the
region's highest jobless rate which was 12.9% in January of
2010.