If you’re an unemployed health care professional or college professor living in the Hudson Valley, finding a position in today’s job market may not be too difficult.

But if you’re an out-of-work public servant, it will likely be tougher.

On the whole, the Hudson Valley region has seen a drop in its unemployment rate over the past year. In March of 2010, Westchester, Rockland and Putnam had an unemployment rate of 7.5 percent—about 3 percent less than the national average, according to a recent study by the New York State Department of Labor. Now, one year later, the Hudson Valley region has seen that number drop down to 6.6 percent. It is an impressive number when compared to less fortunate neighbors, like the Bronx, where the March 2011 unemployment rate hovers at 11.7 percent.

With the coming of spring and nice weather, also comes more employment opportunities, according to Thom Kleiner, a Hudson Valley regional representative for the state Department of Labor.

“In March, hiring picks up,” he explained. “Large chains like Home Depot and Lowe’s do more hiring.”

And because of the recent economic climate, area employers are finding a more prepared, competent crop of potential applicants.

“The likelihood of a business getting an employee that comes with more experience—who they might not have had access to in past years—has increased,” Kleiner said.

So in the Hudson Valley, the previously unemployed are finding work—but where?

According to another study by the New York State Department of Labor, Hudson Valley job growth has been brisk in the leisure and hospitality sector and educational and health services sector.

Marist, a four-year college located in Poughkeepsie, falls into that educational services sector. On the school’s web site, job postings are seeking a teaching associate and library director, a summer painter and a applications report specialist. There are openings for administrative, faculty and service positions.

“Our hiring is consistent with last year,” explained Tim Massie, Marist’s chief public affairs officer. The college, when faced with a vacancy, chooses to fill it rather than eliminate the position.

“We’ve had no layoffs whatsoever, and our employees have had raises each of the past years,” Massie added. Massie attributes Marist’s ability to remain above the sluggish economy to a combination of responsible fiscal management and the growing importance of higher education.

“An education is an investment,” he said. “It will always be in demand.”

Ellen Sell, a Tarrytown resident in her 50s who owned and operated a temp agency in the past, was recently on the other side of the fence and back in the job market. In her experience job hunting, there are three sectors in the Hudson Valley that are hiring right now.

“Retail and finance seem to be picking up,” Sell said. “There are lots of positions in health care, especially home health.”

Sell’s observation is spot on in Rockland County, where health care is one of the chief employers—Nyack Hospital, a 375 bed facility with specialty cancer and pediatric units—has hundreds of employees. And the hospital’s future plans are on par with the Department of Labor’s findings. Ten years ago the hospital renovated, brining a state-of-the-art cancer facility into the fold. Now, according to David Freed, the hospital’s president, they’re looking to improve and upgrade once again.

"We want to further modernize the hospital,” Freed said to Nyack village officials at a recent meeting. “The hospital’s ability to change is critical to the health and safety of people.”

In Suffern, Good Samaritan Hospital recently announced it will soon launch a $15 million expansion of its Emergency Department in response to a growing demand for emergency medical services.

Now, for those who want to avoid sending out resumes that likely won’t elicit a response: consider skipping the public sector.

Even municipalities with a healthy budget—like Nyack, a small Rockland County village overlooking the Hudson River and Tappan Zee Bridge—are not hiring. Their 2011-2012 budget, which calls for a tax hike close to one-percent, makes room for no new positions. The village is in the midst of a hiring freeze to keep costs low and taxpayers content.

In Piermont, Nyack’s smaller, nearby riverfront neighbor, the village has taken to trimming down the public staff. When a Department of Public Works employee retired in 2010—a considerable loss for the tiny municipality—village trustees decided to eliminate the position rather than track down a new hire.

Government officials and business owners in the Hudson Valley are happy to see the unemployment rate dropping, but are hoping for an even larger uptick in hirings. On Tuesday afternoon, Westchester Assemblymen Steve Katz, R,I-Yorktown, held a job summit with CEOs, small business owners and chamber of commerce presidents in Northern Westchester. The goal: Figure out how to spur job creation.

"As a small business owner, I know firsthand the challenges that employers throughout our state are facing,” Katz said. “Simply put, there are too many taxes, fees and too much red tape inhibiting our ability to create and keep jobs. I hope that by bringing regional employers and business groups together, we can spotlight the need to get Albany out of the way of our job creation.”

Katz noted the job sectors that are thriving in the area are high-tech and biotech companies, but that is not enough—and a solution is to facilitate new, local business.

“You’re not going to have jobs until you have business coming in; you’ve got to have a need to hire someone,” Katz said. Katz’s plan is to help fill large, vacant retail areas—like the now-defunct Food Emporium in Yorktown—by relaxing government involvement.

“In Westchester, the government has to do its best to get out of the way of business,” Katz said. “We need to decrease taxes and regulation—then, we’ll have more hiring.”