New York state's economy lost more than 25,000 jobs in the private sector in April, the state Department of Labor reported on Thursday. 

Still, the unemployment rate declined slightly from March to April from 4.1% to 4%, state officials said, as the number of unemployed people declined from rom 391,600 in March to 385,000 in April. 

Job growth in the country overall is outpacing New York, which has struggled to regain the jobs last more than three years ago in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The jobless rate in New York, especially New York City, has remained stubbornly high as the rest of the country has largely recovered from stay-at-home orders and business closures. 

New York City's unemployment rate increased from 5.3% to 5.4% from March to April. Outside of the five boroughs, the jobless rate dring that time decreased from 3.1% to 2.9%.

New York overall in April lost 25,700 jobs in the private sector, decreasing by 0.3%. The labor participation increased slightly from March to April by 0.1%, reaching 60.8%. 

Nationally private sector jobs increased by 0.3% during that same time period.