WATERTOWN — The Watertown-Fort Drum area again saw the highest rate of unemployment of any metropolitan area in the state in January, as had been the case in December.
According to data released Tuesday by the state Department of Labor, the Watertown-Fort Drum metropolitan area had a 6% unemployment rate last month, the highest among 15 metropolitan areas tracked by the department. The Binghamton area had the next-highest rate at 4.8%, followed by Buffalo-Niagara Falls at 4.7%.
The Watertown-Fort Drum area’s rate grew from 5.4% in January 2023 and also went up from the 5.4% recorded in December.
Lewis County had the second-highest unemployment rate among all 62 counties in the state in January at 6.7%, topped only by Hamilton County at 7.6%. Lewis County’s rate was 5.8% in January 2023 and 5.6% in December 2023.
Jefferson County’s 6% rate was tied with Bronx County for the third-highest among counties in the state, while St. Lawrence County had the sixth-highest rate at 5.7% in January. In January 2023, St. Lawrence County’s rate was 5.2%, while it was also 5.2% this past December.
Statewide, the unemployment rate for January was 4.4%, down from the 4.5% in January 2023 and in December 2023.
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