Central New York is showing signs of economic recovery. The Department of Labor is reporting job growth in the area. As YNN's Erin Clarke tells us, that news is just in time for graduates entering the workforce.

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Department of Labor is reporting the strongest improvement of the economic recovery for Central New York.

"We outperformed the state in terms of job growth and came much closer to the national job growth rate than we have in the past," said New York State Department of Labor Principal Economist Roger Evans.

April numbers show that in the Syracuse area, jobs grew 1.1 percent compared to 0.7 percent statewide and 1.7 percent nationally. The field experiencing the largest growth is health care.

"We've never had more health jobs than we do here today," said Evans.

With commencement season in full swing, graduates from schools like Upstate Medical University are entering the workforce at a good time.

"Most of our graduates already have at least one job offer before they leave," said Upstate Medical University College of Health Professions Dean Hugh Bonner.

That's a trend Bonner only expects to get better in the future as the population gets older.

"We're going to need a workforce to take care of those individuals, plus our current workforce is also aging," said Bonner.

Despite a growth in jobs, the latest unemployment numbers, from March, show Central New York still struggling a bit.

"Our 8.3 [percent] compared to 8.0 [percent] for the state and compared with 9.2 percent for the nation," said Evans.

Pre-recession, Syracuse jobless numbers were usually better than the state and national rate, hovering somewhere between four to six percent of the population unemployed, however, Department of Labor economists predict the economy won't get back there for at least two years.

Dean Bonner estimates that more than 80 percent of Upstate University's graduating class of 2011 already have a job lined up. He also says that the recession has helped double enrollment because prospective students are attracted to careers that are still hiring.