New York's unemployment rate dipped in May by 0.4 percentage points as the state increases efforts to reopen and vaccinate residents against COVID-19.
The state's unemployment rate fell from 8.2 percent in April to 7.8 percent in May, according to Labor Department data obtained by The Wall Street Journal. Other northeastern states were reported to have similar reductions in unemployment.
Daniel Zhao, senior economist at job-search site Glassdoor, told The Journal:
The Northeastern region has benefited from a rapid rollout of vaccines. The health situation is improving and economic activity is unlocked, allowing workers to return and consumers to go out and spend.
The drop was especially significant for service industry jobs, according to the data. The leisure and hospitality industry in the state was found to have had more than 7,000 hires.
The rise in employment can be partly attributed to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) lifting most COVID-19 capacity restrictions on business on May 19. New York then began to gradually increase capacity limits for restaurants and other businesses.
New York’s unemployment rate rose to 16.2 percent in April of last year from less than 4 percent in early 2020 after the state shut down businesses and imposed restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in mass layoffs and company closures.
Unemployment rates in other areas have dropped at a higher rate in other areas of the country. May's unemployment rate for Idaho was 3 percent and South Dakota's was 2.8 percent.
The U.S. labor market in May reportedly added 559,000 jobs, causing the unemployment rate to fall to 5.8 percent from the previous mark of 6.1 percent.