State's Unemployment Rate Falls to 7.9% in October

ALBANY, NY (11/17/2011)(readMedia)-- New York State's unemployment rate fell to 7.9% in October 2011, down from 8.0% in September, the State Labor Department reported today. The number of unemployed New Yorkers also dropped over the month – from 758,200 in September to 757,000 in October 2011.

In October 2011, the state's private sector job count decreased by 3,400, or less than 0.1%, to 7,152,800. Since the state's economic recovery began in November 2009, New York has recouped 171,500, or 52%, of the private sector jobs lost during the 2008-2009 recession.

"Over the past year, the New York State economy added 72,900 private sector jobs. In addition, our statewide unemployment rate remained below the comparable U.S. jobless rate of 9.0% in October 2011," said Bohdan M. Wynnyk, Deputy Director of the Division of Research and Statistics.

Note: The data above are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data 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, October 2010 versus October 2011.

1) Unemployment rates (seasonally adjusted):

In October 2011, New York State's unemployment rate was 7.9%, down from September 2011's level of 8.0%. The U.S. unemployment rate also dropped over the month -- from 9.1% in September to 9.0% in October 2011.

Unemployment Rates (%)*

*Data are preliminary and subject to change, based on standard procedures outlined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

See State and Area Jobs Data

See Labor Market Overview

See Jobs and Unemployment Fact Sheet