Area jobless rate down to lowest level since pandemic’s start

The Capital Region’s unemployment rate in August fell to its lowest level since the beginning of the pandemic in March, according to state Labor Department

data released Tuesday.

With 8.8 percent of the labor force still looking for work, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. It was the highest August unemployment figure in data going back 30 years. And it was more than twice the 3.8 percent rate in August 2019.

But it was lower than the 11.5 percent rate posted in July.

Glens Falls, just to the north, saw its unemployment rate fall to 8.2 percent in August, the second lowest rate among the state’s metros after the college town of Ithaca, where the August unemployment rate stood at 7.2 percent.

All the data are preliminary and subject to revision as more complete figures are received.

The Capital Region’s 8.8 percent rate means 40,000 local residents were unemployed and actively seeking work during the month. The local figures aren’t seasonally adjusted, so Labor Department analysts prefer instead to compare the data from the same month year-to-year.

The Capital Region figures include Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady and Schoharie counties.

In a separate report on jobs last Thursday, the Labor Department reported that there were 44,200 fewer jobs based in the five counties than a year ago. The greatest loss was in the leisure and hospitality sector, down 17,500 jobs from August 2019.

Meanwhile, there were 15,600 fewer residents of the five counties unemployed and actively seeking work, according to the Labor Department.

Locally, Schenectady County’s 10.3 percent jobless rate was the highest, followed by Albany County at 9.0 percent, Rensselaer County at 8.4 percent, and Saratoga and Schoharie counties at 7.8 percent each.