The Buffalo Niagara region’s jobless rate inched up in October.
The unemployment rate increased to 3.6% from 3.4% in September, according to state Labor Department figures released on Tuesday.
The number of people counted as unemployed increased by 3.8% from a month ago, to 19,300. But at the same time, the size of the region’s labor force – a combination of employed and unemployed people – dropped by 1,800.
It was bad enough that the Buffalo Niagara region’s job market stagnated last month after a respectable jump in hiring during September. But we already know that the Buffalo Niagara job market took a big turn for the worse in November.
The size of the region’s labor force also dropped by 11,200, or 2%, from a year ago, continuing an ongoing trend.
That reduction is probably due to continued retirements, and perhaps some outmigration, as workers who were allowed to work remotely during the pandemic are called back to the office at employers based outside the region, said Julie Anna Golebiewski, a Canisius University economist.
“There is a movement in that direction nationally, and I anticipate that has some effect in Buffalo,” she said.
During the pandemic, Buffalo was an attractive spot for working remotely, with its lower cost…
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