Rate of unemployment claims starts to slow for first time since mid-March
4,000 have filed for unemployment in Orleans in past 11 weeks
Orleans County and the state are still seeing large numbers of unemployment claims being filed, but at least the weekly filings are started to decrease.
Last week, there were 136 unemployment claims filed in the county and 13,379 statewide. That was down from 259 in Orleans the previous week and 195,958 statewide during the week of May 23.
The unemployment filings have far exceeded a normal week since mid-March, when the state closed or restricted businesses across the state to try to slow the spread of Covid-19.
In Orleans, the week of March 28 had the most unemployment filings at 824. The state had the most during the week of April 11 with 399,015.
Although the numbers were down last week to one of the lowest levels since late March, they are still significantly higher than the same week a year ago. Orleans had 37 people file for unemployment during the last week of May in 2019, compared to 136 last week.
Statewide, there were 13,379 unemployment filings the last week of May in 2019, compared to 85,479 last week. That’s about five times as many than a year ago.
Orleans County has now had 4,011 unemployment claims in the past 11 weeks. Orleans County has a workforce of about 17,000 people. The 4,011 unemployment claims represent about 23 percent of the workforce.
The state has now had 2,552,683 file for unemployment since March 14.
Here are the weekly filings among the GLOW counties and state-wide:
- Genesee: 178 (May 30), 383 (May 23), 480 (May 16), 450 (May 9), 482 (May 2), 589 (April 25), 421 (April 18), 931 (April 11), 886 (April 4), 1,308 (March 28), 268 (March 21)
- Livingston: 210 (May 30), 439 (May 23), 481 (May 16), 412 (May 9), 355 (May 2), 490 (April 25), 403 (April 18), 918 (April 11), 996 (April 4), 1,338 (March 28), 227 (March 21)
- Orleans: 136 (May 30), 259 (May 23), 298 (May 16), 285 (May 9), 285 (May 2), 326 (April 25), 297 (April 18), 581 (April 11), 595 (April 4), 824 (March 28), 138 (March 21)
- Wyoming: 75 (May 30), 256 (May 23), 252 (May 16), 228 (May 9), 234 (May 2), 326 (April 25), 266 (April 18), 601 (April 11), 603 (April 4), 837 (March 28), 155 (March 21)
- Statewide: 85,479 (May 30), 195,948 (May 23), 229,562 (May 16), 203,928 (May 9), 197,607 (May 2), 222,040 (April 25), 207,172 (April 18), 399,015 (April 11), 347,573 (April 4), 369,025 (March 28), 80,753 (March 21)
