New York unemployment rate lowest since 2008 recession

The state”™s unemployment rate dropped to 5.1 percent in September, the same as the national unemployment rate, and is the lowest percentage of people out of work in New York since the beginning of the recession in April 2008.

This time last year, the unemployment rate was 6 percent in New York.

The decreasing unemployment rate is complemented by private sector job additions in the state, which total 11,400 over the last year, according to the state Department of Labor. Westchester, Orange and Rockland counties added a total of 4,900 jobs in the private sector since September 2014, a 0.8 percent increase.

The leisure and hospitality workforce in the tri-county area saw the biggest leap in employment, with a 5.7 percent increase, or 3,600 employees since last September. The total workforce in that sector, which, along with education and health services jobs have seen consistent growth this year, is about 67,100 jobs.

Education and health services jobs increased 3.9 percent in Orange, Rockland and Westchester counties, with 5,500 employees added over the year. Ambulatory jobs had a nearly 8 percent increase in September 2015 compared to the same period last year, adding 3,300 jobs.

Upticks in the leisure and hospitality and education and health services sectors last month were also reflected in the Hudson Valley jobs market, which increased 2.5 percent and 3.0 percent respectively compared to last year.

Financial services took the biggest jobs hit in the tri-county region last month, losing 1,100 jobs since September 2014, a 3 percent decrease. Natural resources and mining employment dipped 2.1 percent in Westchester, Orange and Rockland counties, losing 800 jobs over the year. The same sector in the Hudson Valley shed more than 1,000 jobs last month, down 2.2 percent from the year before.