Private sector job growth is growing in New York state, but the rate of growth is less than the national rate and job growth is still lagging in the state’s rural areas compared to the New York City area.

The April jobs report, released recently by the state Labor Department, did provide good news in Chautauqua County, which saw no change in its non-farm employment from March to April. The county’s unemployment rate was 4.3%, slightly more than the statewide rate or 3.9% but a full 1% decrease from April 2018’s 5.3% unemployment rate.

The county’s labor force decreased from 53,700 to 53,600 from April 2018 to April 2019, while the number of people employed increased from 50,900 to 51,300 over the past year. The number of unemployed decreased from 2,800 to 2,300.

The number of private sector jobs in New York state grew by 24,600, or 0.3%, to 8,300,500, a new, all-time high trumpeted by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Labor Department.

The types of jobs that employ the county’s labor force have changed over the past year, even as the number of jobs remained the same.

The manufacturing sector remained the same at 8,800 jobs, while the service sector remained the same at 39,800 jobs. Trade, transportation and utilities jobs in the county decreased by 100 jobs over the past year while professional and business services jobs decreased by 100 jobs, or 3.6%. Government jobs increased 0.9% from 10,600 to 10,700.

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“New Department of Labor statistics show New York state has reached an unprecedented milestone by surpassing 8.3 million private sector jobs for the first time in history,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a news release. “New York is open for business and the proof is in these numbers. Our goal is to provide excellent employment opportunities across the state by bolstering our regionally focused economic development strategies and diversifying our portfolio through new and innovative industries. While we continue to set record numbers, we still have more work to do. New York must continue to build on our economic success by creating and retaining jobs to pave the way for future success.”

E.J. McMahon, director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy, noted on the organization’s blog that the job creation numbers likely aren’t as rosy as state officials proclaim.

The state gained 123,500 jobs from March to April, a growth rate of 1.5%; the national growth rate for the same period was 2%.

Nearly three-quarters of the job growth was in New York City, but McMahon said some persistently weak areas in Upstate New York continued to struggle.