Department of Numbers

Rochester, New York Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Rochester fell 0.1 percentage points in August 2021 to 5.4%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 2.0 percentage points lower than the New York rate. The unemployment rate in Rochester peaked in April 2020 at 16.0% and is now 10.6 percentage points lower. You can also compare Rochester unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate August 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
National 5.2% -0.2 -3.2
New York 7.4% -0.2 -4.3
Rochester 5.4% -0.1 -3.7
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with August 2021 data as September 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 79,207. There are now 51,143 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 August 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
Rochester 28,064 -531 -19,460

Number of Unemployed Persons

Rochester, New York Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 New York
Unemployment Rate		 Rochester
Unemployment Rate		 Rochester
Unemployed
September
2021		 4.8% — — —
August
2021		 5.2% 7.4% 5.4% 28,064
July
2021		 5.4% 7.6% 5.5% 28,595
June
2021		 5.9% 7.7% 5.7% 29,328
May
2021		 5.8% 7.8% 5.8% 30,098
April
2021		 6.1% 8.2% 6.0% 30,937
March
2021		 6.0% 8.4% 6.0% 31,203
February
2021		 6.2% 8.9% 6.0% 30,907
January
2021		 6.3% 8.8% 5.9% 30,215
December
2020		 6.7% 8.7% 5.8% 29,657
November
2020		 6.7% 8.7% 6.1% 31,164
October
2020		 6.9% 8.7% 6.4% 32,796

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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