Good News! The New York State Department of Labor has just released some encouraging preliminary figures pertaining to the state’s unemployment rate. According to the numbers released on July 18, the percentage of unemployed individuals fell from %7.6 to %7.5 between May and June, putting it below the national average. In areas outside of New York City (including Upstate and Long Island), the unemployment rate fell from %7.1 to %6.9. Jobs in the private sector have risen in 26 of the past 30 months.