Westchester County”™s unemployment rate dropped 1 percentage point in October from a year ago to 6 percent of the workforce, while the seven-county Hudson Valley region also saw a 1 percent drop in unemployment for the month, according to the state Department of Labor.
Westchester”™s October jobless rate was down only slightly from the county”™s 6.2 percent rate in September. The Hudson Valley region also saw a 0.2 percent decrease in unemployment from September to October.
Both Westchester and the Hudson region were below the statewide unemployment rate of 7.5 percent in October, which was down from 8.1 percent in October 2012. Unemployment rose slightly across the state from the 7.4 percent rate in September, the Labor Department reported.
Putnam County had the fourth lowest October unemployment rate, 5.5 percent, of all 62 counties in the state. Rockland County ranked seventh and tied with Nassau County with a 5.7 percent jobless rate in October. Westchester at 6 percent was in a three-way tie for ninth place with Columbia and Seneca counties.
The boroughs of Brooklyn and the Bronx ”“ that is, Kings and Bronx counties – had the highest October unemployment rates in the state. Brooklyn”™s 9.6 percent rate was down only slightly from 9.7 percent in October 2012. The Bronx trailed with 12.2 percent unemployment in October, compared with 11.6 percent in September and 12.3 percent in October 2012.
Upstate Tompkins County had the state”™s lowest unemployment rate in October at 4.8 percent.
