State’s Jobless Rate Dips To 4%, Lowest Level In 30 Years

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York officials say the state's unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level on record, dipping to 4 percent for the first time in 30 years.

The Department of Labor says Thursday that October's 4 percent unemployment rate was last reached in May 1988. The agency says its labor force data goes back to 1976.

The state unemployment rate in September was 4.1 percent.

The national unemployment rate in October was 3.7 percent, unchanged from September.

New York City's jobless rate in October was also 4 percent, the same as the previous month when it reached its lowest level on record.

The labor department says the overall number of unemployed New Yorkers decreased last month to just under 388,000, the lowest level since April 2001.