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According to the state Department of Labor stats, that’s 25 percent less than it was in 2014.
The national unemployment rate was, as of January, 4.8 percent.
The other Hudson Valley counties' numbers Day cited were: Putnam, 4.4 percent; Dutchess, 4.5 percent; Orange, 4.5 percent; Westchester, 4.5 percent; Ulster, 5.0 percent; and Sullivan, 5.3 percent.
Day said the county has worked hard to maintain a business-friendly atmosphere that will, in turn, create more jobs.
Rockland had, he said, done that by cutting government spending by 9 percent, cutting “the size of county government 22 percent,” and keeping tax increases to “a minimum.”
"Businesses want to be here, they want to grow here. Our policies are working," Day said.
Among the companies and businesses that have moved into Rockland over the past few years are Warby Parker, Urban Electric Power, and Golden Krust.
Warby Parker, a maker of prescription glasses and sunglasses, is adding 128 jobs at its new manufacturing facility in Sloatsburg, Day said.
Urban Electric Power took over the old Pfizer property in Pearl River.
Golden Krust is a Bronx-based Caribbean cuisine fast food chain and maker of Caribbean food products, such as Jamaican beef patties. It bought a 17-acre parcel off Route 303 in Orangetown and plans to build a $37 million world headquarters ti consolidate its operations and a distribution center there.
There will be close to 200 Golden Krust employees and about 83 of them will hold manufacturing jobs.
Day, pointing to the Shops at Nanuet and the new Time Hotel in Nyack, Day said that the county’s retail and service sectors are also strong.
Having a strong economic foundation can help “stem the tide of increasing property taxes,” the county executive said.
It will also encourage other businesses to set up shop in Rockland, he added.
Day promised the county will, in order to continue the trend, work closely with the Rockland Economic Development Corp., Empire State Development, the towns, the Chambers of Commerce, and the Rockland Business Association.
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