Chautauqua County’s Unemployment Rate Trickles Downward

MAYVILLE – The unemployment rate in Chautauqua County went down last month.

New figures, released by the New York State Labor Department this week, indicate the county’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.4 percent, down from March.

This is the lowest rate since October. At this time last year the unemployment rate was a record high at 17.9 percent.

The county’s current unemployment rate is lower than the statewide rate of 8.2 percent.

The labor shortages around New York is caused by the extended unemployment benefits in the state, according to New York State Senator George Borrello, who last week proposed legislation to end those benefits.