Department of Numbers

Rochester, New York Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Rochester fell 0.7 percentage points in November 2020 to 5.8%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 2.6 percentage points lower than the New York rate. The unemployment rate in Rochester peaked in April 2020 at 15.3% and is now 9.5 percentage points lower. You can also compare Rochester unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate November 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
National 6.7% -0.2 +3.1
New York 8.4% -0.8 +4.5
Rochester 5.8% -0.7 +1.4
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with November 2020 data as December metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Rochester, New York, National

Rochester, New York monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Rochester, New York Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Rochester peaked in April 2020 at 77,917. There are now 48,803 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Rochester employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Rochester, New York) is also available.

Unemployed Persons November 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
Rochester 29,114 -2,967 +6,307

Number of Unemployed Persons

Rochester, New York Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 New York
Unemployment Rate		 Rochester
Unemployment Rate		 Rochester
Unemployed
December
2020		 6.7% — — —
November
2020		 6.7% 8.4% 5.8% 29,114
October
2020		 6.9% 9.2% 6.5% 32,081
September
2020		 7.8% 9.7% 6.4% 32,030
August
2020		 8.4% 12.5% 10.0% 51,362
July
2020		 10.2% 15.9% 13.0% 67,963
June
2020		 11.1% 15.6% 11.4% 58,595
May
2020		 13.3% 14.5% 11.5% 58,887
April
2020		 14.8% 15.3% 15.3% 77,917
March
2020		 4.4% 4.1% 4.6% 23,983
February
2020		 3.5% 3.7% 4.1% 21,744
January
2020		 3.5% 3.8% 4.3% 22,321

1. Metro area unemployment rates are now seasonally adjusted. The BLS has started publishing smoothed seasonally adjusted metropolitan area data which makes comparisons to state and national data more relevant than the unadjusted numbers. ↩

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