Unemployment in Westchester, Putnam Among NY’s Lowest
Unemployment in January was down .7 percent from last year in Putnam, the Putnam County Legislature announced at Tuesday night’s economic development meeting.
Putnam’s 7.0 percent unemployment rate in January was the second lowest in New York (behind Tompkins County), according to the New York State Department of Labor. Westchester, at 7.6 percent, was sixth lowest. In January 2010, unemployment was at 7.7 percent in Putnam and 8.0 percent in Westchester.
In Putnam, the rate rose more than half a percent to start the year, jumping from 6.4 percent in December 2010. Westchester saw a similar trend with unemployment jumping from 6.8 percent to 7.6 percent over the same period. The jump is nothing unusual – it’s taken place every year in both counties going back at least two decades, and because rates are generally higher in January state and national statistics are usually seasonally adjusted.
In New York, unemployment rose from 8.0 percent to 9.0 percent. However, the seasonally adjusted rate rose just slightly, from 8.2 percent to 8.3 percent. Unemployment in the state is down from 9.6 percent in January 2011 (not seasonable adjusted). In the U.S. the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 9.4 in December 2010 to 9.0 percent in January and dropped to 8.9 percent last month.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.