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Unemployment Rises in Central New York

By Ryan Morden

Oswego, NY – Unemployment is up in central New York.

According to the survey from the State Labor Department, unemployment in the 3-county Syracuse area rose to 9.1 percent in January. Oswego County is one of the counties in the Syracuse area. Oswego County's jobless rate of 11.6 percent was the second highest in the state.

The Utica-Rome area rate jumped an entire percentage point from 7.7 percent to 8.7 percent.

Those numbers might not mean much to someone who is unemployed like Mary Cavallaro. She is 63 and lives in Liverpool.

All Cavallaro wants is a customer service job to hold her over for a couple more years until she retires. She is disappointed that her previous position as a community care specialist didn't last.

"I really loved my job, and I put a lot of effort into it, and so it was quite a disappointment for me," said Cavallaro.

Cavallaro has been unemployed twice before and said it's never taken this long to find another job.

With unemployment at nearly 10 percent state wide, it's a position many New Yorkers find themselves in.

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