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Western New York on track for strongest annual job growth in last 25 years

Mike Desmond/WBFO News

Since the beginning of the year, Western New York has seen job growth at an annual pace of 1.7 percent. It’s more than double the pace of hiring in 2014, and on track to be the strongest year in terms of job growth in the last quarter century.

Such successful reports bring up the question of whether the local economy is on a stable track or if Western New York is seeing the effects of a market bubble. John Slenker, Western New York Labor Market Analyst for the New York State Department of Labor, said looking at the last two to three years, the region has seen a growth rate between a half and one and a half percent.

“As long as we’re in that range we can keep that up for a very long time,” said Slenker. “These are sustainable. You’re not outpacing, you’re not outstripping your labor force. You’re not overbuilding. These types of growth rates can last a very long time.”

Looking back over 25 years, jobs in banking and local manufacturing were among the top opportunities. Slenker noted that the current economy in Buffalo and the surrounding areas boasts opportunities nearly all across the board. The exceptions are information related positions – those in news and television – and jobs in government.

“Seventy percent of all government jobs are in education. 50% of those are teachers,” explained Slenker. “The problem we’ve had in Western New York is we’ve got an aging population. We just don’t have the same student body that we used to. We don’t have the same number of kids from age five to age 18 that we had 20 years ago, 25 years ago. So we don’t need as many teachers because the classes have just gotten smaller.”

The overall boost in job growth is a sign that Buffalo is thriving, according to Slenker. He said many people are coming to Western New York for opportunities in the medical corridor. More signs of influx can be seen on the streets of the city.

“Downtown is thriving. I work downtown, I walk around at lunch,” said Slenker. “You see people on the street. There’s a much different attitude, much more positive. You go to Canalside, there are people coming downtown. Another sign would be when I look around and I see license plates from out of state and it’s not just Ontario and Pennsylvania. Texas, California, Delaware, New Jersey, South Carolina.”

Slenker said he judges the also judges the job market partly on the previous year’s news on labor in comparison to the current year. He said the number of good news stories of expansions and openings in Western New York has outpaced stories such as companies failing by a rate of at least eight to one.

Avery began his broadcasting career as a disc jockey for WRUB, the University at Buffalo’s student-run radio station.
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