John R. Roby

jroby@pressconnects.com | @PSBJRoby

The Watchdog File is a weekly column investigating the data, officials and institutions that shape life in New York state. Follow @watchdog_file on Twitter, and send tips to jroby@gannett.com.

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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. But those same sectors shrank or lagged across much of central New York.

The U.S. Census Bureau's new County Business Patterns data show that between 2011 and 2015, counties outside New York City added nearly 12 percent to their work forces 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, 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 work force. All five sectors showed total gains in employees.

For Broome, Tioga, Chemung and Tompkins counties, the situation is different.

Broome County's largest sector, health care and social assistance, lost 1 percent of employment between 2011 and 2015. That brought the total number 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.

Tioga showed a nearly 6 percent gain in retail, its largest sector, bringing total employment to 1,311. The other top four sectors — manufacturing, health care, accommodation and food service, and wholesale trade, all declined, by as much as a quarter of total employment.

In Chemung, the top four sectors in total employment — health care, manufacturing, retail and accommodation and food service — all declined from 2011 to 2015. Employment in those sectors fell from 21,455 to 20,741. The wholesale trade sector grew its work force from 1,309 in 2011 to 1,376 in 2015.

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The health care sector in Tompkins County added 9 percent employment, totaling 5,709 in 2015, making it the largest in the county. Retail, manufacturing, and the professional, scientific and technical services sector all declined.

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 jobs and payroll. Those areas tend to be downstate.

When New York City is included in the 2015 data, the state 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 half of 1 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.

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BY THE NUMBERS

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

Health care and social assistance — 756,984 — 790,605 — +4.4%

Retail trade — 580,474 — 599,451 — +3.3%

Accommodation and food service — 360,504 — 402,694 — +11.7%

Manufacturing — 352,030 — 354,868 — +0.8%

Professional, scientific, technical — 238,143 — 264,174 — +10.9%

Total employment in the five largest sectors for Broome County, 2011 and 2015, and percentage change.

Health care and social assistance — 15,267 — 15,114 — -1.0%

Retail trade — 11,369 — 11,502 — +1.2%

Accommodation and food service — 8,019 — 8,325 — +3.8%

Manufacturing — 8,501 — 7,382 — -13.2%

Administrative and support — 3,765 — 4,926 — +30.1%

Total employment in the five largest sectors for Tioga County, 2011 and 2015, and percentage change.

Retail trade — 1,239 — 1,311 — +5.8%

Manufacturing — 1,237 — 1,119 — -9.5%

Health care and social assistance — 1,476 — 1,114 — -24.5%

Accommodation and food service — 941 — 895 — -4.9%

Wholesale trade — 610 — 533 — -12.6%

Total employment in the five largest sectors for Tompkins County, 2011 and 2015, and percentage change.

Health care and social assistance — 5,223 — 5,709 — +9.3%

Retail trade — 5,058 — 4,922 — -2.7%

Accommodation and food service — 4,405 — 4,556 — +3.4%

Manufacturing — 2,736 — 2,600 — -4.9%

Professional, scientific, technical — 2,562 — 2,239 — -12.6%

Total employment in the five largest sectors for Chemung County, 2011 and 2015, and percentage change.

Health care and social assistance — 6,814 — 6,613 — -2.9%

Manufacturing — 5,893 — 5,576 — -5.4%

Retail trade — 5,289 — 5,288 — -0.1%

Accommodation and food service — 3,459 — 3,264 — -5.6%

Wholesale trade — 1,309 — 1,376 — +5.1%

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