January 27, 2015

State Labor Department Releases Preliminary December 2014 Area Unemployment Rates

The New York State Department of Labor today released preliminary local area unemployment rates for December 2014. Rates are calculated following procedures prescribed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The state’s unemployment rate relies in part on the results of the Current Population Survey, which contacts approximately 3,100 households in New York State each month.

The state’s private sector job count increased by 114,200 from December 2013 to December 2014. In December 2014, the number of private sector jobs in the state was 7,638,200, an all-time high. 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.

In addition, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 5.9% in November 2014 to 5.8% in December 2014, its lowest level since September 2008.

Local Area Unemployment Rates* (%),
December 2013 and December 2014
(not seasonally adjusted)

*Data are preliminary and subject to change
	December 2014*	December 2013
Upstate NY (52-co. area)	5.5	6.4
Metro Areas	5.3	6.2
Albany-Schenectady-Troy	4.6	5.4
Binghamton	6.1	6.9
Buffalo-Niagara Falls	5.7	6.5
Elmira	5.7	7.0
Glens Falls	6.0	7.1
Ithaca	3.5	4.0
Kingston	5.4	6.5
Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown	4.8	5.8
Rochester	5.4	6.1
Syracuse	5.7	6.5
Utica-Rome	6.1	6.8
Non-metro Counties	6.4	7.2

Downstate NY (10-co. area)	5.7	6.7
New York City	6.4	7.5
Suburban Counties	4.4	5.1
Nassau-Suffolk	4.4	5.1
Putnam-Rockland-Westchester	4.5	5.1

The data in the preceding table are not seasonally adjusted, which means they reflect seasonal influences (e.g., holiday and summer hires). Therefore, the most valid comparisons with this type of data are year-to-year comparisons of the same month; for example, December 2013 versus December 2014.

Unemployment rate highlights in December 2014:

The counties in New York State with the lowest unemployment rates include:
- Tompkins County (3.5%)
- Nassau County (4.1%)
- Putnam County (4.1%)
- Rockland County (4.3%)
- Saratoga County (4.3%)
- Albany County (4.4%)
- Columbia County (4.5%)
- Dutchess County (4.6%)
- Suffolk County (4.6%)
- Westchester County (4.6%)

See County Unemployment rates (opens in new window) for current unemployment rates for all 62 counties in New York State.

Labor force data for the current month are preliminary and subject to revision as more information becomes available the following month. Revised estimates for prior months are available at: http://labor.ny.gov/stats/LSLAUS.shtm

Labor force statistics, including the unemployment rate, for New York and every other state are based on statistical regression models specified by the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. These are the most up-to-date estimates of persons employed and unemployed by place of residence. Estimates are available for New York State, labor market regions, metropolitan areas, counties, and municipalities with population of at least 25,000.

See State and Area Unemployment Rates (opens in new window)
See Unemployment Rate Map (opens in new window)
See Jobs and Unemployment Fact Sheet (opens in new window)

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