By QINA LIU
qliu@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1613

Despite media reports about the loss of momentum in the nation's economic recovery, recent labor statistics suggest the forecast isn't so grim for Erie and Niagara counties.

According to the New York State Department of Labor, the latest unemployment rate in Erie County for April was 7.4 percent. That means that out of a labor force of 457,300, 33,900 people were unemployed. The unemployment rate in Niagara County for the same month was 8.2 percent, with 9,000 out of 109,900 people unemployed.

John Slenker, a state labor market analyst for Western New York, said two out of every three unemployed typically receive benefits. For Erie County, he said, 27,809 collected benefits during the month of April; there were 7,816 beneficiaries in Niagara County during the same period.

While the unemployed typically receive benefits for 26 weeks, the federal government can extend benefits in times of recession. In New York state, beneficiaries can collect a maximum of 93 weeks of unemployment insurance. After collecting 26 weeks of regular unemployment insurance, they can receive up 47 weeks of emergency unemployment compensation and then up to 20 weeks of extended benefits.

If the unemployment rate falls below 8 percent at any given time, only a maximum of 13 weeks of extended benefits are available. For Erie County, however, April figures show the average person collected unemployment benefits for 17.7 weeks. In Niagara County, the figure ws 17.1 weeks.   

Although benefits vary, people receive, on average, 50 percent of their previous earnings weekly. The average unemployment check in New York state is $303.04, according to Slenker. While the unemployed do not necessarily have to accept a job that pays less than their unemployment check, he said it becomes difficult to get by without cutting back - especially when his or her income is cut in half.

"Unemployment insurance is meant as a bridge to get you from your last job to your next job," Slenker said.

During a recession, however, he said that bridge is exacerbated by the fact that companies are more reluctant to hire. He compared the unemployment market to a bathtub, with the water representing the number of people unemployed, the running faucet representing those laid off and the drain representing when they are hired.

"You can never shut off the drain or the faucet," he said. "People are constantly moving in and out of the labor market."

After all, what happens if the job you had isn't around anymore? What do you do with those skill sets?

"What ends up happening is if the steel industry is gone, finding them a steel job would be a lot harder," Slenker said.

The type of people he refers to are those structurally unemployed - those who would need retraining to find jobs. However, the structurally unemployed aren't limited to when an industry shuts down.

"You can have structural unemployment caused by (advances in) technology," Slenker said.

When technology replaces jobs - i.e., computers and Adobe InDesign programs replaced typesetters in the newspaper industry - a number of people become structurally unemployed because their skill sets aren't applicable anymore.  

According to Slenker, highly skilled manufacturing jobs are always in shortage, even before a recession. The recession eased this shortage because the unemployed may fill skill gaps in a company. On the other hand, repetitive, low-skill manufacturing jobs are often the first to be eliminated.

"During the recession, the first thing a company does is stop hiring," he said. "When you mention there are people expecting shortages, as an economist that tells me the recession is ending."  

While analysts predict the end of the recession, there also are signs reflected in Sunday papers peppered with job openings. Flipping through the 27 pages of last week's issue of WNY Jobs.com, seven pages were devoted to skilled labor and manufacturing jobs - more than 25 percent of the paper's content. According to its website, there are more than 770 job opportunities in the Buffalo area. The majority of openings are in health care, manufacturing, general and skilled trades and technician categories.

That includes Jim Ball Buick Pontiac GMC Cadillac, which placed an ad for A, B and C level technicians due to increasing demand and sales.

Peter Gemmati, service manager, said he placed an ad in the Sunday paper for two technicians three months ago. So far, only one person has qualified for a position.

"The automotive field is really thin right now," he said, adding that many of his peers in the automotive industry are having a hard time filling positions for skilled technicians.

Meanwhile, Kohl's, Tim Hortons and Target say they are hiring. A spokeswoman at Tim Hortons at 4066 Lake Shore Road in Hamburg said she has received numerous applications for all positions.  

Sarah Van Nevel, a corporate spokesperson for Target, said it plans to hire 355,000 people nationally, including 25,000 companywide, 6,300 leaders and team members on the corporate level, 1,400 interns and 20,000 in stores and distribution. She was unable to supply data on jobs available locally.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, its Job Openings and Labor Turnover April 2011 Survey showed 542,000 job openings in the Northeast,  including New York.

The study also reports there were 3 million job openings nationally on the last business day of April.

Slenker, meanwhile, said there has been a general positive trend of private-sector job growth in the past 13 months.

"April's numbers are higher than last April's numbers," he said.