Yates county unemployment at 6.4 percent; Schuyler 7.8

TRI-COUNTY AREA—Yates County tied with two other counties for having the third lowest unemployment rate in the state.
The New York State Department of Labor released the November unemployment data, the most recent information available, at the end of December. Yates County is tied for the third lowest unemployment rate out of 62 counties: 6.4 percent. Rockland and Saratoga Counties also share 6.4 percent. Tompkins County had the lowest rate with 5.4 percent, followed by Putnam County with 6.2 percent. Statewide, the unemployment rate was 7.9 percent, which is higher than the 7.4 percent rate for the entire country.
Yates’ percentage is down slightly from October 2012, when unemployment was 6.6 percent. According to the DOL, this equals an estimated 900 people without a job.
Schuyler County’s unemployment rate in November was 7.8 percent, just up from 7.7 percent in October. The 7.8 percent was the 28th lowest in the state, tying with Queens County.
Steuben County had the 50th lowest rate, at 9.1 percent. This is down slightly from 9.3 the month before.