Unemployment remains higher in Chautauqua County in September 2021 than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

State officials recently released New York’s latest unemployment rates, but typically compare employment statistics to the same period one year ago. Compared to one year ago at this time, unemployment has decreased from 6.3% in September 2020 to 4.7% in September 2021.

The county’s unemployment rate in September 2019, before the pandemic began, was 3.8%. The county’s labor force has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels either, decreasing from 54,500 in September 2019 to 53,100 in September 2021 while the number of county residents employed has decreased from 52,400 in September 2019 to 50,600 in September 2021. Over the course of two years from September 2019 to September 2021, there are 400 more people unemployed in Chautauqua County.

Those looking for unemployment to return to pre-pandemic levels may be waiting a while, particularly when looking at statewide unemployment.

According to preliminary figures released by the state Department of Labor, the number of private sector jobs in New York state increased over the month by 14,800, or 0.2%, to 7,524,900 in September 2021. By comparison, the number of private sector jobs in the U.S. increased by 0.3% in September 2021.

New York state’s private sector jobs (not seasonally adjusted) increased by 266,200, or 3.7%, over the year in September 2021. By comparison, the number of private sector jobs in the U.S. increased by 4.7% over the year.

New York state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased from 7.4% to 7.1% in September 2021.

The Empire Center for New York State Policy noted earlier this week that New York’s private-sector

“At September’s monthly growth rates, the nation will surpass pre-pandemic employment levels in October 2022, while New York won’t fully recover until the end of 2025,” wrote E.J. McMahon, Empire Center for New York State Policy executive director. “The comparative trends since 2010 are illustrated below; note that New York employment growth actually had begun to fall behind the national average in 2019, a few months before the COVID-19 health crisis hit.”