Unemployment

• Unemployment peaked Nationally at 10.2% in October 2009 (It is expected to remain above 7% through 2013 and above 6.5% in 2014) 
• In December of 2012 NYS, Chautauqua County and the city of Jamestown were all higher than the US unemployment rate  
• The chart below shows that the unemployment rate peaked in 2009 and has been gradually declining for NYS and the country
• Jamestown and Chautauqua County saw a decline from 2010 to 2011 and then a sharp increase

• The percentage of Chautauqua County residents living below the poverty level has historically been higher than the state and national average
• According to data in the American Fact Finder Survey, one in five Chautauqua County residents lives in poverty, and in the city of Jamestown 29 percent of residents were in poverty
• These rates are higher than the state and national percentages
• There are several ways that poverty is measured and regardless of the measure used a high percentage of county residents live in poverty

• The level of retail sales per capita for an area shows the amount of cash spent by individuals
• Chautauqua County as a whole is below the Cattaraugus County, Jamestown, state and Federal level, but well above comparison county Oswego

• NYS residents have $11,791 in credit card debt as compared with a low for North Dakota residents of $5,865 and a high for Connecticut residents of $15,065, according to Transunion

• Bankruptcy filings per 1000 population for the USA are 4.4, while for NYS they are 2.4
• According to the Western New York Bankruptcy Court data filings, 17 Chautauqua County residents filed for bankruptcy in January 2013 which was a -29.2% change from January 2012, and 22 CC residents filed in February 2013, which is a decrease over the same time period last year of 26.4% 
• Overall bankruptcies in the Buffalo Division are down by 15.9% from the 2012 YTD totals

• According to the 2009 Personal Income by Type and County of Residence, 2006, published by the Rockefeller Institute, University at Albany, State University of New York, more than one quarter of Chautauqua County residents (26.8%) receive transfer payments or assistance, while 59.18% report personal income from earnings, and property income accounts for 14.02%
• The percentage of county residents receiving transfer income is higher than the state percentage of 17.53%, while a greater percentage of NY residents 65.95% report income from earnings and 16.52% report property income

Source: http://otda.ny.gov/resources/caseload/2013/2013-03-stats.pdf 

• The percentage of children and youth birth to 17 who are living below the poverty level has risen from 24% in 2005 to 30.95% in 2011 (Kids' Well-being Indicators Clearinghouse)
• The NYS rate is 22.8%