The unemployment rate in New York state dropped last month. Between February and March, the state’s unemployment rate lowered from 8.4 percent to 8.2 percent, reaching an all-time high in private-sector jobs this year, according to the Department of Labor. The state added more than 14,000 private-sector jobs in March, bringing the job count to a record high 7.4 million. The state unemployment rate still outpaced the national average by close to a full percent, as the national percentage stands at 7.6 percent. Compared to March of last year, New York’s non-farm jobs increased by almost 80,000 positions, and private-sector jobs increased by over 97,000 positions. The Ithaca area saw the third highest percentage of job growth in the state, at 1.7 percent, trailing the Kingston and Long Island areas.
