Unemployment in Chautauqua County has dipped to 5.3%, a far cry from the 12.3% unemployment rate in May 2020.
But, the unemployment rate is still higher than the 3.9% May 2019 unemployment rate before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
That means unemployment is following the same trend as the county’s employment statistics are following — significant rebounds from the depths of the pandemic but still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
E.J. McMahon, founder and executive director of the Empire Center for Public Policy, noted that New York has the second-worst change in private sector employment from May 2019 to May 2021, with a 9.9% decrease that trails only Hawaii (-15.7%).
In May 2019, the last comparable year, private sector employment in Chautauqua County was 41,000 jobs compared to 36,200 in May 2021, which means the county has still lost 12% of the jobs it had before the pandemic.
The county had 8,900 manufacturing jobs in May 2019, a number that has decreased to 8,000 as of May 2021. Trade, transportation and utilities also has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels, dropping from 8,500 jobs in May 2019 to 7,700 in May 2021. Education and health services, which does not include public schools, had 8,300 total jobs in May 2019 and, despite gains over the past year, has still lost 900 jobs from pre-pandemic levels.
Likewise, the leisure and hospitality industry in Chautauqua County has nearly doubled the number of jobs from May 2020 to May 2021 (2,700 to 5,100) but has yet to recover to the May 2019 level of 5,700 jobs.
Statewide, New York’s 6.9% unemployment rate is the sixth-highest among all states and 1.4% higher than the national average of 5.5%.
McMahon noted legislation sponsored by Sen. George Borrello that would have ended enhanced unemployment benefits in New York state while also noting that U.S. Labor Department statistics show New York accounts for 14% of the nation’s Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation claims even though the state is home to only 6% for the pre-pandemic civilian labor force.
“Given New York’s sluggish jobs recovery as measured by payroll and unemployment rate data, why are many employers ranging from New York City restaurants to the State Fair in Syracuse complaining they can’t find workers?” McMahon asked in a Thursday Empire Center blog post. “The answers from some economists range from a lack of child care to increased out-migration of workers in response to the pandemic. But it seems clear that one major factor, especially for individuals who might normally work in lower-wage jobs, has been the federally funded enhancement and extension of unemployment benefits.”
