ALBANY – New York State's seasonally adjusted private sector job count has dropped for seven consecutive months, the State Labor Department reported yesterday.

Since peaking in August 2008, the job count in New York has decreased by 176,100 private sector jobs, erasing more than 40 percent of the 400,000 jobs added during the state's last economic expansion from 2003-2008.

While the recently announced layoffs of 106 workers at Meadwestvaco in Sidney haven’t been figured into the equation yet, slightly more workers were employed last month in Chenango County compared to in February.