Jeff Platsky

jplatsky@gannett.com | @JeffPlatsky

While Ithaca is thriving, Binghamton continues to lag as October job numbers paint a picture of two economies headed in drastically different directions.

Binghamton recorded a 1,200 loss in private-sector jobs, a 1.5 percent decline, over the past year. Ithaca reported a 2,400 private-sector job gain, a 3.8 percent increase. Meanwhile, Elmira's private-sector job count was down 100, down 0.3 percent, year-over-year.

"Binghamton is stuck in the mud," said Christian Harris, a labor market analyst with the New York state Department of Labor in Glendale. "Flat is nothing to strive for in a seven-year recovery."

Virtually every job category with exception of health services and construction recorded a loss over the year in the Binghamton region, which includes Broome and Tioga counties.

The total job count of 80,800 represents the lowest ever recorded for October. It is down 10,400 jobs, about 11 percent, since 1990 when the labor department recalibrated its calculations for statistical reasons.

The last time Binghamton recorded an increase in October jobs was between 2006 and 2007.

Manufacturing jobs continued to slide in Binghamton. In October, the total number of jobs in the production sector totaled 11,000, the lowest on record for any month since 1990, and down 500 for the year.

As grim as Binghamton numbers are — no other metro area in New York performed worse than Binghamton over the past 12 months — Ithaca continues to be an upstate bright spot, with the best private-sector job growth in New York.

While the monthly numbers may be a bit of a statistical aberration, Harris said it is clear that Ithaca is benefiting from the ripple effects in the education category, with research and high-technology related companies associated with Cornell University generating new jobs.

Statewide, New York's private sector job count climbed by 89,900, 1.1 percent.