Friday
Cortland County added 600 jobs in October, compared with October 2021, bringing it to 19,000 jobs, the most since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, shutting down the world economy, show state Labor Department data released recently.
Four hundred of those jobs came in the leisure and hospitality sector, up to 2,900 jobs from 2,500 in October 2021. Another 100 came in manufacturing, to 2,300; other services added another 100 jobs.
The county had 19,500 jobs in March 2020.
New York added 306,400 jobs in the year from October to October, up 3.9%, state data show. Education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and professional business services were the leading growth sectors, adding 75,200, 71,800 and 66,100 jobs, respectively.
Regionally, metropolitan Syracuse added 9,200 non-farm jobs, up 3%; metropolitan Binghamton added 3,700 jobs, up 3.8%; and metropolitan Ithaca added 1,000 jobs, up 1.6%.
Cayuga County added 400 jobs, up 1.7%; Chenango County added 500 jobs, up 3%.
Saturday
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer brought with him the promise of $3 million for Cortland County's new mental health facility on Friday when he visited Cortland, and another $14 billion for mental health providers to expand their services across the nation.
"Mental health services have been in short supply throughout New York and through the country. COVID made it worse," said Schumer (D-New York) at a media event outside the planned mental health facility, at 111 Port Watson St. "This is not a county with so much money that when there's a problem, they can write out a check."
So Schumer did, metaphorically speaking. The county had already used $2 million from the American Rescue Plan to acquire and begin renovation on the former Brewer Titchener building. Schumer said he placed $3 million more in the omnibus spending bill Congress is now debating to continue the work.
"As long as we have an omnibus, I am certain the $3 million will be there," he told a crowd of political officials, mental health providers and reporters.
That comes as the county's mental health department has reported a 30-year high in its caseload, Schumer said, and expects another 10% increase in 2023.
Community Services Director Sharon MacDougall said the facility would double the space now provided by the department's rented offices on Clayton Avenue. It would more easily provide broadband internet access, making telehealth appointments easier to provide.
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Cortland and Tompkins counties remained a low risk of coronavirus spread, the federal government reported Thursday, as the risk in Broome and Tioga counties remained medium.
The risk level remains low in Cayuga, Onondaga, Madison and Chenango.
Cortland County had 17 new cases of COVID-19 between Nov. 24 and Wednesday, giving it a rate of 35.73 cases per 100,000 people, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
The rates and risk, from the CDC:
Cortland: 35.73 — low
Tompkins: 66.55 — low
Cayuga: 54.85 — low
Onondaga: 54.72 — low
Broome: 76.65 — medium
Chenango: 95.32 — low
Tioga: 95.43 — medium
Madison: 31.01 — low
