ALBANY – Unemployment in the Hudson Valley/Catskills increased
slightly when comparing February to the same month last year. Sullivan
County, which saw over a nine percent increase new jobs because of the
recently opened casino, had a flat rate of joblessness at 5.9 percent.
Columbia, Dutchess, Putnam and Rockland counties, each had 5.0 percent
rates of unemployment in February.
Westchester County’s rate rose to 5.2 percent while in Orange County
it was 5.3 percent.
Ulster County unemployment in February was at 5.5 percent while Greene
County was at 6.4 percent.
Region-wide, February unemployment registered at 5.2 percent. That is
up from 5.0 percent in January and up from 4.9 percent in February 2017.
In February, there were 58,000 unemployed in the region, up from 55,700
in January and up from 55,000 in February 2017.
Year-over-year in February, the labor force decreased by 7,300 or 0.6
percent, to 1.1 million.
