[caption id="attachment_18751" align="alignright" width="430"] The giant solar panel factory under construction at RiverBend in South Buffalo will create nearly 3,000 direct and indirect jobs. Robert Kirkham/Buffalo News file photo[/caption]

This Labor Day, Western New York workers are benefiting from the cautious optimism that has been building in recent years.

The experts aren’t ready to break out the champagne, but they at least seem willing to crack open a few wine coolers.

The latest hopeful sign comes in the form of local employment growth. Experts say that 2015 will be the best year for job growth in the region since 1989 and finally will come close to matching national figures.

In addition to the brighter job picture, average annual pay increases are ticking upward, home sales are on the rise and young people are starting to reverse the region’s notorious “brain drain.”

Few would have dreamed as recently as a decade ago that this region would be on the comeback trail. But instead of a running joke about the weather and rusted steel mills, people are seeing possibilities in this area. Young people are moving back, or not leaving in the first place.

And we have the improving job scene, happening across many industries, to thank.

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