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County Unemployment Rate Down To 6.2%

The unemployment rate in Chautauqua County has fallen in the last month, according to preliminary information released Tuesday by the New York State Department of Labor.

For the month of September the rate fell to 6.2% — down from the 9.5% reported for August and the 12.4% reported in July brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearby Cattaraugus County had a 5.9% unemployment rate for September, down from 9.8% reported in August.

In March, when data was collected for February, the county had a 5.8% unemployment rate. Just a month later, state labor officials reported a 15.7% unemployment rate.

Prior to that, the rate last hit 10% in March 2010, at the tail end of the economic crisis.

Rates by the state Labor Department 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 state each month.

The state’s seasonally adjusted private sector jobs increased over the month by 75,300, or 1.0%, to 7,285,400 in September. The number of private sector jobs in New York state is based on a payroll survey of 18,000 New York employers, which is conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In addition, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased from 12.5% to 9.7% in September.

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