The NYS Dept. of Labor has recently released it’s most recent unemployment figures for November 2011. Taking a look at these figures in comparison to 2010, here are some keys to look at:
United States: 2011: 8.2% 2010 9.3%
NYS: 2011: 7.9% 2010 8.2%
Albany, Schenectady, Troy: 2011: 6.7% 2010: 7.2%
Glens Falls: 2011 7.7% 2010 8.3%
Saratoga County is tied for the second lowest unemployment rate at 6.1%.
Fulton County has the third highest unemployment rate at 9.4%
So what do these statistics tell us?
Well, we all know that 2010 was a bad year, so decreasing the unemployment rate is a good thing. As you can see the decrease is more dramatic nationally than in NYS. The main reason for this, is that the unemployment rate increased more nationally than in NYS.
The main point in these statistics, THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS GOING DOWN. Now most people would like to see it drop as fast as it went up four years ago, but our economy hasn’t quite stabilized just yet. Most analysts see 2012 as the year for the economy to truly begin stabilization and with that the unemployment rate will drop even more.
Saratoga County: Now Saratoga County is doing very well. Why? Most of this can be attributed to Global Foundries full out hiring effort. The plant is expected to be up and running in 2012. Also some of the manufacturing and distributing companies in Saratoga County began their Holiday seasonal hiring in November. Saratoga County always seems to be on the leading edge of good news when discussing the job market.
Fulton County: Fulton county has taken a couple of big hits over the past couple of years. Many of the large manufacturing companies have relocated or shut down operations. I did see a recent report showing there is new interest by companies to begin relocating or starting up in Fulton County. I don’t believe Fulton County will be on the bottom of this list next year at this time.