Syracuse's Unemployment at 7.9 percent

The Central NY Business Journal reported that New York's unemployment rate climbed to 9 percent in August, up from 8.6 percent in July, according to new data the state Labor Department released today.

August's rate was the highest since April 1983, according to the department. The state's unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in August 2008.

New York's private-sector job count fell by about 2,200 in August, less than 0.1 percent, to about 7.1 million.

In Syracuse, the number of private-sector jobs fell 2.5 percent, about 6,800 jobs, between August 2008 and August 2009. The unemployment rate was 7.9 percent last month, down from 8.1 percent in July and up from 5.5 percent in August 2008.