COVID-19 has cut Chautauqua County’s leisure and hospitality workforce in half compared to last July’s job count.

Leisure and hospitality employed 3,100 people in July 2020, 3,300 (51.6%) less than the July 2019 job count. The state Labor Department announced on Tuesday that unemployment in Chautauqua County has increased to 12.4%, a .8% increase from June and 6.5% higher than January.

The unemployment increase is a result of more people looking for work since the start of the year and a slow rehiring process for those who lost their jobs in March and April. Companies began hiring back more emplyees in July, with 1,400 more people employed in July than there were in June and 2,500 more people employed than there were in April. But, the county’s 49,300 employed residents is a far cry from the 51,600 who were employed in January.

At the same time, there were more people in the labor force in July than at any time since July 2019, with 56,300 people actively looking for work. The last time there were that many people in the county labor force was July 2019, when 56,700 people were in the labor force. There were 54,800 people in the labor force in January.

Lastly, there are 7,000 people unemployed in July, 3,800 more than in January and an increase of 1,000 from May and 800 from June.

By sector, all employment has decrease in Chautauqua County over the past year except for financial activities, which still employs 1,200 people. In addition to the aforementioned leisure and hospitality industry, manufacturing has lost 1,300 jobs (14.4%), the service industry has lost 5,900 jobs (14.1%). Government has lost 100 jobs, a 1% decrease.

Cattaraugus County’s unemployment rate is 13.1%. New York City remains particularly hard hit, with unemployment at 24.9% in the Bronx, 20.5% in Queens and 20.4% in Kings County.

The hardest-hit sectors in Cattaraugus County are is leisure and hospitality, which lost 800 jobs (25.8%), trade, transportation and utilities, which lost 600 jobs (13%), education and health services, which lost 400 jobs (9.1%) and manufacturing, which lost 300 jobs (10%).