Lower-to-middle skill jobs showed slow growth nationally, while the number of jobs in the same category in Upstate, Downstate and Northern New Jersey fell, according to the report.

Wage growth was also weaker in upstate New York, although the region does not have the dramatic wage gap between the highest and lowest paid workers evident in the figures for Downstate.  

Assistant vice president of the Federal Reserve, Richard Deitz says jobs that involve routine tasks have suffered more in upstate New York,  “The number of jobs in the middle has actually been declining a little bit more rapidly here than nationally,” he said.

Deitz said that’s partly because the manufacturing sector has been hit so hard in recent decades, “that has displaced a lot of what we think of traditionally as middle skilled workers.”

Although the manufacturing sector has shrunk, Deitz says jobs are still available, they just require more skill than they used to.

He says the bottom line is, workers have to rethink the training they need to survive in this job market.