William C. Dudley, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, spoke at an Economic Press Briefing on Wednesday on the ongoing economic recovery and on jobs growth in the New York Fed region.

The speech contained little information about how he wants to see interest go in the coming weeks and months. Still, it did talk up the recovery and the jobs situation, and he wants to see more economic data.

The Q&A session, listed out of sequence here, had Dudley saying that the data still suggest moderate growth. He also noted that the rate hike case for September is now less compelling, even if it is important to not overreact to market events here and abroad.

The recent Empire State Manufacturing Survey was weak, and Dudley noted that two themes have emerged from community visits that warrant special attention. One is the arena of workforce development as employers are having difficulty finding workers to fill a number of middle-skill jobs from positions in nursing, automotive technicians and computer-controlled machine operators.

Another important issue addressed was credit for small businesses, as gaining access to credit is one of the top growth challenges for small businesses. Small business owners have voiced these concerns.

Dudley’s economic outlook for the regional economy is what those in the Northeast are really going to focus on. New York City bucked the post-recession trend to a surprising degree, and it was said to have done so with little help from Wall Street firms. One of New York City’s strongest sectors has been technology, adding nearly 50,000 jobs in the New York Fed district during the recovery.

Dudley addressed growth in areas outside of New York City as well. Employment levels on Long Island and in parts of upstate New York, most notably the Albany, Buffalo and Rochester areas, also have climbed and were said to be at or close record highs. The numbers showed a dramatic uptick in construction employment in Buffalo, and these areas are said to be well positioned for future success.

Still, Dudley said that the employment recovery has been slow to take hold in both northern New Jersey and the Lower Hudson Valley. Jobs there are still not back to their prerecession peak. Dudley said:

For Northern New Jersey, this lag is due, in part, to a stall in the growth of jobs in professional and business services. But the education and health sectors continue to add jobs, and construction employment is seeing a rebound. I also saw a number of bright spots on my visit to the area a few months ago. One was Jersey City, which is leveraging its proximity to New York City to attract residents and jobs. Another was Newark, where I saw signs of downtown development, including Teacher’s Village, a mixed-use community of teachers with new schools, housing and retail businesses… But pockets of weakness remain. For example, in upstate New York, Binghamton has had no meaningful rebound in employment. Although the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico remain in a deep economic slump, employment appears to have steadied in both places in recent months.

This is a regional report. While the region may have positive comments from Dudley, the scary report seen in the past week or so was the horrendous drop in the Empire Manufacturing report.

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