The Chautauqua County unemployment rate has decreased more than a point in the last year.

Earlier this month, the state Labor Department released preliminary numbers for September that indicated the unemployment rate is 4.2 percent in the county, which is 1.3 percent lower than the rate of 5.5 in September 2017. Along with the county, the state and federal rate also has decreased since last year. The state’s rate in September was 3.8 percent, down 0.8 percent from 4.6 percent in September 2017. The U.S. rate in September was 3.6 percent, down 0.5 percent from 4.1 percent in September 2017.

The state Labor Department rates are calculated using methods 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 each month.

From September 2017 to last September, the state’s private sector job count increased by 109,500. In September, the number of private sector jobs in the state was 8,189,800. The state’s private sector job count is based on a payroll survey of 18,000 New York employers, which is conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.