Monthly records were broken in New York state as the number of unemployed continues to skyrocket and numerous businesses start to close their doors for good. 

Unemployment rates in New York rose to 14.5 percent in April, according to data released Thursday by the Department of Labor. 

What You Need To Know


  • Unemployment has reached historic levels.

  • New York has lost 20 percent of its private sector jobs.

  • The unemployment rate is only slightly below the national average

  • Billions have been paid out in benefits.

 The unemployment rate in March was at 4.1 percent, which means unemployment grew in that month by 10.4 percent.

This is the largest monthly increase since the state started keeping record in 1976. April saw even a higher increase in unemployment than during the Great Depression, where unemployment rose by 10.3 percent in February in 1976. 

The rapid rise in unemployment has strained the state's unemployment system, creating a backlog of thousands of people awaiting benefits. 

Labor officials have added more phone operators and server capacity for the state's unemployment website to handle the wave of applications. The state has subsequently paid out more than $10 billion in benefits.

Right now, the national unemployment rate for April is slightly higher at 14.7 percent. 

The number of private sector jobs in the state decreased by 1,764,600 or 21.4 percent. 

This also was the largest monthly employment drop on record for the state.

Accommodation and food service professions saw almost a third of the decline in jobs. Then trade, transportation, education and health services saw the next largest decline in jobs. 

The number of people who became unemployed increased by 931,600 while the number of people working dropped by 307,600, which are both also now the highest on record. 

Buffalo-Niagara Falls, Syracuse, Rochester, Utica-Rome, Glens Fall, Orange-Rockland-Westchester, Nassau-Suffolk, and New York City all lost 20 percent of its private sector jobs this past year. ​