Unemployment rate falls in Orleans and in state compared to year ago
The unemployment rate for Orleans County was at 4.2 percent in July, compared to 5.5 percent a year earlier, the state Department of Labor reported today. (In July 2020, early in the Covid pandemic, the unemployment rate was at 9.4 percent in Orleans.)
The unemployment rate also dropped statewide from 7.1 percent in July 2021 to 4.8 percent last month. Nationally the unemployment rate declined from 5.7 to 3.8 percent.
The state DOL is reporting there were 400 more people working in Orleans County in July, compared to the previous July, from 16,200 to 16,600. The number of unemployed declined from 900 in July 2021 to 700 last month.
Genesee County, where the unemployment rate is at 3.0 percent, also saw an increase in people working, from 28,200 in July 2021 to 29,600. The number unemployed dropped from 1,300 to 900 during that time, the DOL reported.
The unemployment rates among Western New York counties for July include:
- Orleans, 4.2%
- Genesee, 3.0%
- Wyoming, 3.0%
- Livingston, 3.4%
- Niagara, 4.1%
- Erie, 4.0%
- Monroe, 3.9%
- Chautauqua, 4.2%
- Cattaraugus, 4.1%
- Allegany, 4.1%
