The Twin Tiers region is performing fairly well when it comes to available jobs and hirings, according to a macroeconomic view by a state labor market analyst.

Furthermore, the prediction is 2,000 people will find jobs in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties in November and December, based on statistical averages, John Slenker, a labor market analyst for the New York State Department of Labor, said in an interview with the Times Herald.

With September’s jobless rate at 5.3 percent in Cattaraugus County and 4.9 percent in Allegany County, the most recent data available, Slenker said, “These are low unemployment rates.”

“The economy is doing pretty well across Western New York,” he added.

Job seekers can get employed, but it can require persistence and networking. Few companies and businesses are creating new jobs, but hirings are regularly made from what Slenker called turnover.

“The vast majority of job openings is from turnover, probably 90 percent,” Slenker said.

“People retire, quit, move or find new jobs. That’s what causes 90 percent of available job openings.”

Many looking for a job should be able to find one, said Slenker, although he did not detail pay scales. A sizeable number of jobs are in the service sector.

“About 2,000 jobs will be filled in the next two months in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties,” Slenker said.

Regarding the five counties comprising Western New York, Slenker said 15,000 people find jobs each month.

“For those who are discouraged (in their job search), I want to point out there are jobs out there,” he said.

When giving public talks, he often tells those listening: “You only need one of those available jobs, so go get one.”

Meanwhile, labor department information indicates a small percentage of new jobs have been created lately in the region, particularly in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties.

In Cattaraugus County, manufacturing jobs remain stable from a year ago at 3,600, and the all-inclusive category of service-providing jobs is at 28,100, up 200 from a year ago.

In Allegany County, manufacturing jobs also were stable at 2,200, and service-providing jobs are at 16,000, up 100 from a year ago.

But the Twin Tiers’ jobs landscape is somewhat altered from a decade ago. At that time, Cattaraugus County had 4,600 manufacturing jobs and 27,900 service-providing jobs; and Allegany County had 2,400 manufacturing jobs and 14,600 service-providing jobs.

Slenker said the broader Western New York region, which also includes Chautauqua, Erie and Niagara counties, has made a steady comeback from the worst U.S. economic downturn in 75 years.

After the housing bubble burst in mid-2007, and the housing market correction and subprime mortgage crisis the following year, the country entered a severe recession.

The National Bureau of Economic Research officially dates the beginning of the recession as December 2007. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, roughly 8.7 million jobs were shed from February 2008 to February 2010, and the gross domestic product contracted by 5.1 percent, making the Great Recession the worst since the Great Depression in 1929. Also, unemployment rose from 4.7 percent in November 2007 to a peak of 10 percent in October 2009.

But since 2010, Western New York has experienced private-sector job growth every month, Slenker said. Over that time, the regional economy has added a total of 16,000 private-sector jobs, regaining all but 400 jobs lost during the Great Recession. The bulk of those job gains have been in the greater metropolitan Buffalo area.

Still, there is an emerging consensus about the need for more skilled tradesmen to replace aging workers in the region. Skilled tradesmen are retiring faster than they can be replaced.

This has created an opportunity for machinists, welders, tool and die makers, and other skilled tradesmen, Slenker said.

Health, education and technology sectors also represent many employment opportunities.

Even sectors with little turnover do some hiring, according to Slenker.

“Accounting positions have low turnover, but accountants still get hired every month” in Western New York, Slenker noted.

Thirty-six consecutive months of private-sector job growth shows Western New York’s labor market is indeed recovering from the struggles of 2008 and 2009, according to Slenker.

“Job opportunities currently exist in almost every sector throughout the regional economy,” he said.