Unemployment rates are a relatively timely indicator of current local economic conditions, particularly recent changes in the employment landscape that reflect the overall health of the economy.

In 2018-22, unemployment in Westchester County was highest among African American workers, at 7.9%, followed by Hispanic workers, at 6.7%, White workers, at 5.3%, and Asian workers, at 4.8%. Westchester has somewhat less disparity than the state and nation due to lower unemployment rates for African American workers: 7.9% in Westchester compared with 9.3% in New York State and 8.9% in the nation. The unemployment rate for Hispanic workers in Westchester County was on par with the nation (6.2%) and lower than the state (8.2%).

Since 2008-12, the county's unemployment rate declined 4.4 and 2.2 percentage points among African American and Hispanic workers, respectively, while unemployment rates for Asians and Whites decreased about 1 and 1.3 percentage points, respectively.

Westchester County had the highest unemployment rate among African American and Hispanic workers compared to Nassau (6.6% for African Americans; 4.6 for Hispanic), Rockland (7.5% for African Americans; 6.5% for Hispanics), and Putnam (6.6% for African Americans; 4.2% for Hispanics). Westchester had the second highest unemployment rate among Asian workers, behind Rockland at 4.9%.

While traditional explanations for employment rate disparities focus on education and training gaps, whites tend to be employed at higher rates than Blacks and other people of color at every education level (high school, some college, bachelor's degree, etc.). This has led many researchers to focus on labor market discrimination as a primary cause of higher unemployment among people of color. However, it is also true that education levels are generally lower for people of color, suggesting that the education system's failure to equitably serve people of color is also a contributing factor.

The multi-year figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census.

Data on unemployment by race and ethnicity is only available from the American Community Survey, and it is somewhat different from the total population unemployment data produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics using responses to the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey. Two different survey methodologies are used (ACS responses are collected by mail, phone and in person; CPS uses phone and in-person interviews), CPS questions on employment are more detailed, and CPS requires that someone be "actively" searching for work (interviewing, calling contacts) in order to qualify as unemployed. In addition, the ACS estimates used here cover a 5-year period, compared to an annual average of monthly estimates presented in the general unemployment indicator.