Unemployment shows a 30-year low in the state

ALBANY--New York state's unemployment rate fell to 4.1 percent in September, reaching its lowest level since June 1988, according to preliminary figures released Thursday, Oct. 18 by the New York State Department of Labor. Contributing to this statewide rate drop was another monthly decline in New York City's unemployment rate, which fell from 4.1 percent to 4 percent in September, its lowest level on record (current records date back to 1976).
The state had not released individual county unemployment rates as of Monday, Oct. 22. In August, Yates County recorded 4.2 percent unemployment and Schuyler County came in at 3.9 percent. Steuben County's rate was 4.2 percent unemployed for the month.
The state's private sector job count is based on a payroll survey of 18,000 New York employers conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Monthly payroll employment estimates are preliminary and subject to revision as more data become available the following month. The federal government calculates New York state's unemployment rate based partly upon the results of the current population survey, which contacts approximately 3,100 households in the state each month.
Note: Seasonally adjusted data are used to provide the most valid month-to-month comparison. Non-seasonally adjusted data are valuable in year-to-year comparisons of the same month --for example, September 2017 vs. September 2018.