Syracuse metro area presents the second highest growth rate of jobs out of the 14 metro areas in New York state, according to the NYS Department of Labor
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
The Central New York area is on the grow. With the influx of new companies in the region such as Micron and expansion at other companies, finding a job in CNY is becoming much easier.
“The Syracuse metro area added 7,400 total nonfarm jobs over the year ending in June 2025,” said Karen Knapik-Scalzo, associate economist for the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) Division of Research & Statistics in Syracuse. “This represented an over-the-year job growth rate of 2.3 %, which was the second highest growth rate out of the 14 metro areas in New York state.”
The July rates show an even higher jump. In the Syracuse metro region, the addition of non-farm jobs showed an over-the-year increase of 3.2% growth, the second highest growth rate out of the state’s 14 metro areas, once again bested only by Ithaca (3.4%).
“It is also a stronger job growth rate than the state (1.2%) and nation (1.1%),” Knapik-Scalzo added regarding the June 2025 figures. “Job growth has been widespread in the Syracuse metro area with particular strength in leisure and hospitality, private educational and health services, professional and business services and trade, transportation and utilities.”
According to preliminary seasonally adjusted figures released in mid-August by the NYSDOL, private sector jobs in the state increased over the month of July by 11,400 or 0.1% to 8,479,400 in July 2025, comparable to the percent of private sector job increase in the U.S.
Unemployment is going down in CNY. Knapik-Scalzo said that the local unemployment rate of 3.2% in June 2025 is down from 3.6% in 2024 and represents the lowest figure for that month since 1990. The 3.2% rate for CNY ranks below the unemployment levels across New York state (3.8%) and the nation (4.4%).
As for the job sectors, they’re rather varied.
“I’m seeing strong demand in manufacturing and trades; finance and accounting; public services; healthcare support; retail and logistics; and emerging tech sectors,” said Brian Heffron, administrator of workforce development and community relations Center for Instruction, Technology & Innovation (CiTi) BOCES in Mexico, which serves Oswego County.
He added that the sought-after roles currently include case workers, medical assistants, accountants, construction workers, customer service representatives and semiconductor-related positions.
