SYRACUSE -- The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York visited Central New York on Thursday. William C. Dudley spoke at Syracuse's Tech Garden during an event organized by Centerstate CEO.

Dudley then visited Syracuse University for an event at the Maxwell School.  Dudley was talking about the Federal Reserve’s role is in the financial system. He also talked about the economic outlook for Central New York.

Dudley says the region has only regained a third of the 13,000 jobs that were lost during the recession. But, he also noted some signs of an economic recovery. "The region does continue to undergo significant economic restructuring," Dudley said. "In fact many parts of the economy are growing, most prominently, the business services sector has added 2,000 jobs since the recession ended. The leisure and hospitality sector has also been expanding."

Dudley talked about how the Syracuse housing market was not impacted by the recession nearly as much as other areas of the country and New York State.    

The New York Federal Reserve President serves as the vice chairman and a permanent member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the group responsible for formulating the nation's monetary policy.