Capital District Unemployment Rate Continues to Float Near 4%

The New York State Department of Labor has released the regional labor market data for December 2017.  The year-over-year change shows an increase in the overall unemployment rate, 4.2% for December 2017 as compared to 3.9% for December 2016.  However, since December 2014, the region has experienced a general declining trend in the unemployment rate.  The Capital District’s unemployment rate is lower than the statewide average of 4.4% for the month.

“We expect to see seasonal fluctuation in the region’s overall employment picture,” said Sean Maguire, Director of Economic Development at the Capital District Regional Planning Commission.  “The good news is that we have about 3,700 more people in the regional workforce and we consider that to be a positive sign.  More people are either working or actively seeking work versus one year ago.”

The Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area, which also includes Saratoga and Schoharie Counties, experienced the largest increases in net job change and percent change in the leisure and hospitality sectors since December 2016.  Declining sectors include professional and business services from a net change in jobs view and information from a percent change perspective.

The Commission publishes regional employment and unemployment information from the New York State Department of Labor. The Department of Labor notes that current month data is preliminary and subject to revision as more information becomes available in the following month.  Data is collected and reported over time in a single data set.  The full dataset is available on our website.