Unemployment Below 4% around the Lower Hudson Valley

The New York State Department of Labor released preliminary local area unemployment rates for May 2016 on Tuesday, and the year-over-year news is good for the lower Hudson Valley.

New York state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased a tiny bit month-to-month, to 4.7 percent in May from 4.9 percent in April.

Over the past 12 months, the Dutchess-Putnam 'metro area' jobless rate dropped to 3.7 percent from 4.6 percent, state officials said. The other local metro area is Orange-Rockland-Westchester, where unemployment dropped to 3.8 from 4.7 percent.

But Orange County didn't make it onto the state's list of counties with the lowest rates -- barely missing the cut with an unemployment rate in May of 3.9 percent.

Columbia County topped the list.

• The counties in New York State with the lowest unemployment rates in May 2016 include:
  • Columbia County (3.3%)
  • Saratoga County (3.4%)
  • Tompkins County (3.4%)
  • Nassau County (3.5%)
  • Putnam County (3.5%)
  • Albany County (3.7%)
  • Dutchess County (3.8%)
  • Genesee County (3.8%)
  • Ontario County (3.8%)
  • Queens County (3.8%)
  • Rensselaer County (3.8%)
  • Rockland County (3.8%)
  • Suffolk County (3.8%)
  • Westchester County (3.8%)

Rates are calculated as prescribed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The State’s area unemployment rates rely in part on the results of the Current Population Survey, which contacts approximately 3,100 households in New York State each month.

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