Unemployment rate at 12-year low

The private sector job count increased for the sixteenth time in the past seventeen months. After seasonal adjustment, the number of private sector jobs rose by 8,500 from September to a record high count of 7,212,4000 in October. From October 1999 to October 2000, the number of private sector jobs in New York state grew by 165,800 or 2.3 percent, outpacing the nation's rate of growth of 1.9 percent. The state's unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in October, down from 4.6 percent in September and 5.1 percent in October 1999.

New York's unemployment rate, after seasonal adjustment, was 4.4 percent in October 2000, down from 4.6 percent in September and down from 5.1 percent in October 1999. The comparable unemployment rate for the nation was 3.9 percent in October, the same rate as in September. In October 1999, the nation's rate was 4.1 percent.