Unemployment in Chautauqua County has decreased again to 6.4% in April.
The unemployment rate is a far cry from the 17.4% unemployment rate seen last April at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last April’s unemployment rate was the highest jobless rate in Chautauqua County since at least 1990, according to state Labor Department statistics.
While the unemployment rate is decreasing, so is the county’s labor force, which declined from 51,800 in March to 50,700 in April, a sign that fewer people are in the job market. The April 2021 labor force number is the lowest since the April 2020 labor force total of 50,300, which was the smallest labor force since at least 1990.
Also decreasing in April was the number of employed county residents, which dipped from 48,000 in March to 47,400 in April. The April 2020 total of employed county residents, at 41,300, was the lowest total since 1990.
There are 3,300 unemployed Chautauqua County residents, 500 fewer than in March and 5,600 fewer than April 2020.
The shrinking of the county’s labor force and number of employed residents comes at the same time private-sector employment in New York increased faster than the nationwide recovery rate in the month of April, according to the state’s latest monthly jobs report.
Chautauqua County employers are far from fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, though recently released jobs numbers show a partial recovery.
According to state Department of Labor data, total non-farm employment has increased from 40,000 in April 2020 to 44,700 in April 2021. Private sector employment is leading those gains, with all 4,700 jobs gained over the last year coming from that jobs category. Service-providing jobs have added 3,700 jobs since last April’s shutdown with 2,200 of those jobs coming in the leisure and hospitality industry. Leisure and hospitality employment has doubled from April 2020 to April 2021 to 4,400 jobs. Goods producing businesses have added 1,000 jobs over the last year while manufacturing added 500 positions over the past year.
