John R. Roby

jroby@pressconnects.com | @PSBJRoby—

Want to work in upstate New York? If your dream job is in health care, retail, lodging, technology or manufacturing, you’ve got a decent chance — at least in some places.

New data show jobs in some of the sectors with the most workers upstate grew by double-digit percentages so far this decade.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s new County Business Patterns data show between 2011 and 2015, counties outside New York City added nearly 12 percent to their workforces in the accommodation and food service sectors, and nearly 11 percent in the professional, scientific and technical services sectors.

Those sectors, along with health care, retail and manufacturing, made up the five broad industries that employed the most upstate New Yorkers in 2015. That’s the last year for which data are available, and were released by the Census Bureau in April.

Together, the private businesses that fall into those sectors employed more than 2.4 million in 2015, or 30 percent of the state’s private-sector workforce. All five sectors showed total gains in employees.

Four of Monroe County’s top five sectors recorded employment gains at or above the upstate average. Jobs in health care and social assistance — the most common sector — increased over 7 percent, to 65,771 in 2015. Retail rose 3 percent, just below the upstate average, and accommodation and food service employment increased over 12 percent, outpacing elsewhere upstate.

Yet manufacturing employment declined nearly 6 percent since 2011, falling to 35,750 in 2015.

Ontario County’s top five sectors all showed gains except retail, the top employer. That sector remained essentially steady, employing 9,355 in 2011 and 9,342 in 2015. Health care grew faster than the upstate average, rising nearly 8 percent to employ 8,420. Manufacturing, food service and construction rose as well.

In the Southern Tier, the situation is quite different.

Broome County’s largest sector, health care and social assistance, lost 1 percent of employment between 2011 and 2015. That brought total employed in the sector down to 15,114. Retail grew by just over 1 percent, behind the upstate average of over 3 percent. Manufacturing tumbled 13 percent, with 7,382 on payrolls in 2015.

Yet the county added about 1,200 jobs in the administrative and support sector — which includes businesses ranging from travel agencies and telemarketers to collection agencies and temp companies — for a 30 percent gain.

The Census Bureau’s county business patterns data collect information on total employees, payroll and total establishments down to the ZIP code level. It counts private businesses with more than one employee, and excludes the self-employed, employees of private households, railroad employees, agriculture production workers and most government employees.

The data let you compare economic activity from statewide to small areas. Businesses can use them for market analysis, and government agencies can use them for planning.

The numbers show parts of New York are among the national leaders in adding both jobs and payroll. Those parts tend to be downstate.

When the city is included in the 2015 data, New York ranked third in the nation — behind California and Texas — in total establishments (540,298), total employees (8 million) and annual payroll ($513 billion). New York County, or Manhattan, had the highest total payroll of all U.S. counties, at $239.3 billion. It ranked third among counties in total establishments (105,444) and employees (2.2 million).

According to the Census Bureau data, though, many upstate counties lost total employees on a payroll — at least those with the private sector industries that are tallied by the County Business Patterns measure. Broome County’s total employment fell a bit less than a half of a percent, to 71,263. In Chemung, the decline was over 5 percent, to 31,597. Tompkins was a bright spot, with total employment growing nearly 9 percent, to 49,525.

By the numbers

Total employment in the five largest sectors statewide outside New York City, 2011 and 2015, and percentage change.

Sector 2011 2015 Percentage change Health care & social assistance 756,984 790,605 +4.4% Retail trade 580,474 599,451 +3.3% Accommodation & food service 360,504 402,694 +11.7% Manufacturing 352,030 354,868 +0.8% Professional, scientific, technical 238,143 264,174 +10.9%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns.