NYC's jobless rate lowest since nation's bicentennial

The state Department of Labor says New York City's unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest since the nation's bicentennial, while the statewide jobless rate is at its lowest in more than a decade.

The agency's monthly unemployment figures released Thursday showed the city's jobless rate had fallen from 4.3 percent in January to 4.2 percent in February, an all-time low based on records going back to 1976.

The statewide jobless rate dipped from 4.7 percent in January to 4.6 percent last month, the lowest level since July 2007, six months before the Great Recession began.

The Labor Department says the state's private-sector job count rose by 28,700 last month, bringing total employment to more than 8,151,000, the highest ever in New York.

The national jobless rate in February was 4.1.