WASHINGTON, D.C. (WSYR-TV) — New claims for unemployment insurance dropped last week by 111,000 claims nationwide and by 8,552 in New York. That’s the lowest number since late in November.

New York’s jobless claims dropped below the 50,000 mark for the first time since mid-December, and that was just one week. It wasn’t below 50,000 for any length of time since November.

Though down substantially since the pandemic first hit in the spring of 2020, the job market has a long way to go before returning to the levels before the pandemic. Here’s where New York stands compared to the jobless claims filed one year ago.