In July, Nassau and Putnam Counties, N.Y., had the lowest unemployment rate in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area, at 5.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that 11 of the 23 counties that make up the metropolitan area had jobless rates lower than the U.S. average of 6.5 percent. Eleven counties had rates greater than the U.S. average, with Bronx County, N.Y., recording the highest rate (11.2 percent). (See chart 1 and chart 2. The Technical Note at the end of this release contains the metropolitan area definitions. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

All 23 counties in the New York area had lower unemployment rates in July 2014 than one year earlier; Pike County, Pa., had the largest decrease at 2.6 percentage points. (See table A.) The smallest declines occurred in the New York-White Plains-Wayne Metropolitan Division, with a decrease of 0.7 percentage point in Rockland County, N.Y., and a decline of 0.8 point in both Putnam and Richmond Counties, N.Y. By comparison, the national unemployment rate declined 1.2 percentage points over the year. (See table 1.)

Unemployment rates in the 23 New York area counties were lower in July 2014 than in July 2012. Pike County, Pa., had the largest jobless rate decrease at 4.7 percentage points, while Richmond County had the smallest decline, at 1.8 points. Over the last two years, 17 area counties had rate decreases larger than the national decline of 2.1 percentage points.

The July 2014 unemployment rates for the four metropolitan divisions in the New York-Northern New Jersey metropolitan area were 5.3 percent in the Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y. division; 6.4 percent in the Edison-New Brunswick, N.J., division; 7.0 percent in the Newark-Union, N.J.-Pa. division; and 7.5 percent in the New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. division. Since July 2013, the Newark-Union division had the largest unemployment rate decrease of 1.6 percentage points; the Nassau-Suffolk division had the smallest decline of 1.0 percentage point.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment news release for August is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 1, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).

Technical Note

This release presents unemployment rate data for states and counties from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, a federal-state cooperative endeavor. 

Definitions. The labor force and unemployment data are based on the same concepts and definitions as those used for the official national estimates obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a sample survey of households that is conducted for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) by the U.S. Census Bureau. The LAUS program measures employment and unemployment on a place-of-residence basis.  The universe for each is the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years of age and over.  Employed persons are those who did any work at all for pay or profit in the reference week (the week including the 12th of the month) or worked 15 hours or more without pay in a family business or farm, plus those not working who had a job from which they were temporarily absent, whether or not paid, for such reasons as labor-management dispute, illness, or vacation. Unemployed persons are those who were not employed during the reference week (based on the definition above), had actively looked for a job sometime in the 4-week period ending with the reference week, and were currently available for work; persons on layoff expecting recall need not be looking for work to be counted as unemployed.  The labor force is the sum of employed and unemployed persons. The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed as a percent of the labor force.

Methods of Estimation. The LAUS program is a hierarchy of non-survey methodologies for indirectly estimating employment and unemployment in states and local areas. Statewide data are produced through a modeling technique that uses estimates of payroll jobs from the Current Employment Statistics survey and unemployment insurance claims counts from the state workforce agencies to mitigate volatility in the direct CPS tabulations of employment and unemployment, respectively. Data for labor market areas, such as metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions, are produced through a building block approach and adjusted proportionally to state model-based totals. Data for counties within labor market areas are produced through a disaggregation technique. A detailed description of the LAUS estimation procedures is available in chapter 4 of the BLS Handbook of Methods at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/lau/home.htm.

Annual revisions. Labor force and unemployment data for prior years reflect adjustments made at the end of each year, usually implemented with January estimates.  The adjusted estimates reflect updated population data from the U.S. Census Bureau, any revisions in the other data sources, and model reestimation. All substate estimates are reestimated and adjusted to add to the revised model-based estimates.

Area definitions.  The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, dated December 1, 2009. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) consists of New York City, Nassau, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New York; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, and Union Counties in New Jersey; and Pike County, Pennsylvania.

The Edison-New Brunswick Metropolitan Division consists of Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Somerset Counties in New Jersey. 

The Nassau-Suffolk Metropolitan Division consists of Nassau and Suffolk Counties in New York. 

The New York-White Plains-Wayne Metropolitan Division consists of New York City and Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam Counties in New York; and Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic Counties in New Jersey.

The Newark-Union Metropolitan Division consists of Essex, Hunterdon, Morris, Sussex, and Union Counties in New Jersey; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone:  (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service:  (800)-877-8339.