Jobs are the sparkplug that fires the Mohawk Valley’s economy.
Residents, however, say the area desperately lacks good-paying jobs.
“You try, and try, and try to find something out there and there’s nothing,” Utica resident Shawn Wilson said.
Wilson, along with other residents, said the lack of opportunity is dragging down a work force that is willing to work but can not find employers to hire them.
The New York State Labor Department reported a 7.7 percent unemployment rate in June for the Utica-Rome metropolitan region, which dropped from 9.3 percent in January. Those rates, however, are significantly higher than the 4.3 percent reported for June 2006.
Oneida County’s sputtering economy is an omnipresent issue candidates for the county executive’s seat will need to address. Challenging Republican incumbent Anthony Picente this fall is Conservative Party candidate Rodger Potocki.
Picente, of Rome, and Potocki, of New Hartford, said that lowering administrative costs will help the county fund
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