Unemployment rates in Niagara County rose slightly in January to 8.3 percent, up from 7.3 percent from December but down from 10.2 percent from January 2013.

Statewide unemployment rates for January were 7.3 percent, up from 6.6 percent from December but down from 9.1 percent from January 2013. Nationally, the unemployment rate was 7.0 percent in January, up from 6.5 in December, but down from 8.5 in January 2013.

Going back to 2006, unemployment rates in the Buffalo-Niagara region have risen at least .8 percent every January from the month prior.

According to the New York State Department of Labor, the Western New York region "has made a steady comeback from the worst U.S. economic downturn in 75 years. The region has experienced over-the-year private sector job growth every month since April 2010. Since then, the regional economy has added a total of 16,000 private sector jobs, regaining all but 400 jobs lost during the recession."

"Thirty-six consecutive months of over-the-year private sector job growth show that Western New York’s labor market is indeed recovering from the 2008-09 recession," according to the Department of Labor. "Job opportunities currently exist in almost every sector throughout the regional economy."

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