SYRACUSE: The New York State Department of Labor released preliminary local area unemployment rates for January 2016, and Syracuse’s unemployment rate dropped one percent from last year.
The City of Syracuse had an unemployment rate of 6.6 percent in Jan. 2015, and preliminary data had the city’s unemployment rate at 5.6 percent in Jan. 2016.
Rates are calculated as prescribed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The State’s unemployment rate relies in part on the results of the Current Population Survey, which contacts approximately 3,100 households in New York State each month.
From January 2015 to January 2016, the State’s private sector job count increased by 114,000. In January 2016, the number of private sector jobs in the State was 7,868,100. The State’s private sector job count is based on a payroll survey of 18,000 New York employers conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Counties in the Albany and New York City area had the lowest unemployment rates, according to the Department of Labor. Of the 17 regions listed, Syracuse ranked number 7 for highest unemployment rate in Jan. 2016.