Orleans unemployment rate falls from 9.0 to 7.4% in one year
County’s rate is still among highest in state
First, the good news: Orleans County’s unemployment rate dropped from 9.0 percent in April 2013 to 7.4 percent last month, according to the state Department of Labor.
The state reports that 1,400 were unemployed in the county, down from 1,700 a year earlier.
Despite that improvement the county still has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. The state-wide rate is 6.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008, according to the state DOL.
Other similar-size GLOW counties have lower rates than Orleans, including Genesee at 5.4 percent, Livingston at 5.7 and Wyoming at 6.4 percent.
There are 62 counties in the state and eight have higher unemployment rates than Orleans in April. The counties with the five highest rates include: Bronx at 10.3 percent, Hamilton, 8.8; Lewis, 8.7; Jefferson, 8.2; and Kings, 7.9.
The counties with the lowest rates in the state include: Tompkins, 3.5 percent; Nassau, 4.2; Putnam, 4.2; Rockland, 4.4; and Albany at 4.5.
