Albany

The number of jobs in the Capital Region edged up 0.3 percent in August to 464,100, a gain of 1,600 jobs compared to August 2016, the state Labor Department reported Thursday.

Private sector jobs were up 400 while public sector jobs saw a gain of 1,200, although state labor markets analyst James Ross said he believed the private sector actually had larger increase while the public sector's gain wasn't as strong, based on preliminary data from a separate Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

Major job gains were posted in health care, up 1,600 over the past year, and leisure and hospitality, also up 1,600, although Ross said the leisure and hospitality section nevertheless might have been undercounted, not adequately taking into account the surge in August employment that comes with the annual meet at the Saratoga Race Course.

And while professional, scientific and technical services fell by 1,300 positions, Ross said that loss was likely overstated.

Statewide unemployment increased to a seasonally adjusted 4.8 percent in August from 4.7 percent in July. Both figures were 0.4 percentage points above the U.S. unemployment rate.

Local unemployment rates will be released Tuesday.