Putnam’s Unemployment Numbers Drop Slightly

Putnam’s rate of unemployment has taken a slight breather.

The New York State Labor Department reported last Thursday that the county’s rate of unemployment was 6.8 percent for October, down from 7 percent for the past three months.

The numbers compare to a 4.4 percent unemployment rate a year ago and a distant reminder that in 1998, Putnam’s 2.2 percent rate of unemployment was the lowest in all of New York State.

“Any decline is good news,” said Legislator Sam Oliverio of Putnam Valley, who quickly added, “A 6.8 rate of unemployment is still frightening, since 3,900 of our residents are out of work.”

In its monthly report, the NYS Labor Department indicated 16,700 jobs lost throughout the Hudson Valley in October, upping the total to nearly 800,000 people who have become unemployed in the nine-county region during the past year.

September’s unemployment rate in Putnam was 7,000, the highest number in 20 years.

Putnam’s rate of unemployment, which is much higher than 2008 figures, when fewer than 2000 people were out of work, is still the lowest in the entire region. The Labor Department reported a 7.2 percent rate of unemployment in Westchester, 7.1 percent in Rockland, and 7.9 percent in Dutchess County.

John Nelson, an analyst with the New York State Department of Labor, told the Courier/PCN&R that the greatest loss of jobs was in the areas of trade, transportation, and utilities: “Professional and business services were next, followed by manufacturing positions.”

Nelson said employment gains took place in the fields of education, and health care services where 3,325 positions were filled during the past month throughout the Hudson Valley.