More than 3,000 have now filed unemployment claims in Orleans
Orleans County has had more than 3,000 people file unemployment claims in the past seven weeks.
The State Department of Labor is reporting that 285 people in Orleans County filed for unemployment the week ending May 2. That brings the total unemployment claims in the county to 3,046 in the past seven weeks, since the state shut down many businesses or significantly curtailed their activities.
The 285 unemployment claims last week compares to 77 during the same week last year. State-wide, there were 197,607 unemployment claims last week, compared to 28,248 the same week in 2019. State-wide there have now been 1,837,766 unemployment claims the past two months.
Nationally the unemployment rate is 14.7 percent, the highest unemployment rate since the US Bureau of Labor Statistics started tracking the monthly data in 1948 and on par with the unemployment during the Great Depression.
Orleans County has a workforce of about 17,000 people. The 3,046 unemployment claims represent about 18 percent of the workforce. There were about 1,000 people on unemployment before the pandemic. Those people plus the 3,046 who recently filed for unemployment would put the county’s unemployment rate close to 24 percent.
Here are the weekly unemployment claims the past seven weeks in the GLOW counties and statewide:
- Genesee: 482 (May 2), 589 (April 25), 421 (April 18), 931 (April 11), 886 (April 4), 1,308 (March 28), 268 (March 21)
- Livingston: 355 (May 2), 490 (April 25), 403 (April 18), 918 (April 11), 996 (April 4), 1,338 (March 28), 227 (March 21)
- Orleans: 285 (May 2), 326 (April 25), 297 (April 18), 581 (April 11), 595 (April 4), 824 (March 28), 138 (March 21)
- Wyoming: 234 (May 2), 326 (April 25), 266 (April 18), 601 (April 11), 603 (April 4), 837 (March 28), 155 (March 21)
- Statewide: 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)
