Spotlight/economy: Few signs of a downturn in jobs in Erie and Niagara counties

One of the first things workers do after they lose their job is to file for unemployment.

That what makes the weekly unemployment claims data from the state Labor Department particularly insightful for shifts in the Buffalo Niagara job market.

And so far, that data isn’t flashing any warning signs that the region’s tight job market is taking a turn for the worse.

Weekly jobless claims in Erie and Niagara counties remain at low levels – a sign that employers aren’t cutting jobs any more rapidly than they’ve been doing for the past year or so.

Only about 8,400 workers across the Buffalo Niagara region were receiving unemployment benefits during May – the most recent data available from the Labor Department, although that’s up about 15% from May 2022. In all, the Labor Department said there were fewer than 18,000 people across the region who were actively looking for a job but couldn’t find one in May.

The upshot is that even though the region is going through its normal seasonal spike in jobless claims as school employees are laid off for the summer, the overall job market is holding up just fine.