Cayuga County's unemployment rate remained sharply higher in March compared with a year ago, according to the latest statistics from the state Department of Labor.

The March jobless rate of 9.6 percent in the county was up from 5.8 percent during the same month a year ago. The rate did drop slightly from the 9.8 percent level reported for February.

The data released by the state on Cayuga County are not adjusted for normal seasonal fluctuations.

The gap between the county's unemployment rate and the statewide rate also grew slightly. The seasonally unadjusted rate for the state in March was 8.1 percent, or 1.5 percentage points lower than Cayuga County's rate. That gap had been 1.4 percentage points in January and February.

The 9.6 percent jobless rate for Cayuga County was its highest for the month of March since 1992, when the rate also was 9.6 percent.

The rates reflect a total of 4,000 county residents considered unemployed by the state, an increase of 1,600 over the year-earlier level.

Employers in the county had 25,700 jobs within Cayuga County during a March, an annual decrease of 300.

Private sector jobs decreased by 400, with 200 of those coming from the manufacturing sector. Government jobs in the county grew from 6,500 to 6,600.