The  latest numbers in unemployment for the Rochester area show a slowdown in hiring.

For the first time in a number of months, the figures out from the State Labor Department show that the Rochester metro lost jobs compared to a year ago, instead of the strong gains we've seen in recent months. This area saw a loss of 2200 private sector jobs in December compared to a year ago.

State Labor Analyst Tammy Marino tells WHAM 1180 News  that it's mainly due to job losses in the manufacturing and construction sectors.

She also says the numbers may seem weaker by comparison, since december of 2011 saw some unusually strong job numbers:

"I think there could be a little bit of an anomaly, because we did see some very strong hiring in manufacturing and retail trade last year, so that's kind of masking some of the job growth we're used to seeing."

Marino does note that overall for 2012, local employers created about seven thousand new jobs, with most of that hiring happening during the first half of the year. She also says we've seen strong job growth locally over the last three years.