New York state jobless rate falls to lowest level in more than 5 years

State's private sector adds jobs for 17th consecutive month in April, reaching record-high job count

Longest streak since at least 1990

New York state's unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percent to 6.7 percent, its lowest level since December 2008, according to preliminary figures released by the New York State Department of Labor. In addition, the state's private-sector job count grew by 2,500 in April. This was New York's 17^th consecutive monthly gain in private sector jobs, which has raised the state's overall private-sector job count to 7,543,000 - an all-time high. The 17-month streak is the longest since at least 1990 (as far as records go back).

Since the beginning of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's administration, the New York economy has added 440,400 private-sector jobs and experienced employment growth in 35 of the past 40 months. New York remains one of only 17 states to have regained all of the private sector jobs lost during the recession.

The drop in the state's unemployment rate was accompanied by a decline in the number of unemployed New Yorkers. Between March and April, the total number of unemployed state residents fell by 20,100 to 642,800, its lowest level since November 2008.

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. Monthly payroll employment estimates are preliminary and subject to revision as more information becomes available the following month. The federal government calculates New York's unemployment rate partly based upon the results of a monthly telephone survey of 3,100 households in the state.

"New York state's economy continued to grow in April 2014 as it added 2,500 private sector jobs. This marked the 17^th consecutive month of private sector employment gains. In addition, the state's jobless rate and the number of unemployed state residents in April reached their lowest levels since late 2008," said Bohdan M. Wynnyk, deputy director of the division of research and statistics.

Note: Seasonally adjusted data are used to provide the most valid month-to-month comparison. Non-seasonally adjusted data are valuable in year-to-year comparisons of the same month. For example, April 2013 versus April 2014.

Change in Total Nonfarm and Private Sector Jobs, April 2013 - April 2014

Change in Total Nonfarm Jobs: (private sector + government)/ Change in Private Sector Jobs: