ALBANY — Unemployment stood at an estimated 4.7% in the Albany Metro area in June, the state Department of Labor reported Tuesday.
That was down substantially from 10.4% in June 2020, when the state was emerging from the partial shutdown of the economy imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19.
But the recovery is not complete: The June 2021 unemployment rate was higher than any June from 2014 to 2019 in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its jobless rate was just 3.4% in June 2019.
By this metric, the Albany Metro fared better in June 2021 than either the state as a whole (7.3%) or the nation (6.1%).
All but one of the state’s 15 metro areas were in a relatively narrow range in June, from 4.3% (Ithaca) to 5.7% (Buffalo-Niagara Falls). The outlier was New York City at 10.1%, which through its sheer size raised the statewide unemployment rate noticeably.
The New York City jobless rate stood at 18.7% in June 2020.
Here are the unemployment rates in local counties in June 2020 and June 2021:
- Albany 10.5% 4.8%
- Fulton 11.8% 5.9%
- Montgomery 11.2% 6.1%
- Rensselaer 9.8% 4.8%
- Saratoga 10.4% 4.2%
- Schenectady 11.6% 5.4%
- Schoharie 9.1% 4.8%
