SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — The unemployment rate in Sullivan County ticked up slightly from 2022 to 2023, according to preliminary unemployment rates for November 2023 released by the New York State Department of Labor. But, at 3.5 percent, the rate remains historically low, up from 2.9 percent in November 2022.

Rates are calculated using methods prescribed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Over the past 30 years, February 1992 was a high mark for unemployment in Sullivan County, when the rate hit 12.5 percent. Unemployment climbed again into the double digits during the housing crisis of 2008-09 and stayed above 10 percent through 2012. A slow decrease followed this period, interrupted by a sharp rise when the pandemic started. In April 2020, Sullivan’s unemployment rate briefly hit 15.7 percent before receding.

Sullivan County is now in the middle of the pack among counties in New York. Saratoga and Thompkins were the lone counties with unemployment rates below 3 percent in November 2023. Unemployment rates higher than 5 percent were calculated in Bronx (6.1), Kings (5.1), and Hamilton (6.1) counties.

Statewide, the unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in November 2023.

The state calculates rates using methods prescribed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. They rely in part on the results of the Current Population Survey, which contacts approximately 3,100 households in New York State each month.