New York City's unemployment rate continued to lead the state in February, according to county-by-county numbers released Tuesday by the state Department of Labor. 

Nevertheless, New York City is also beginning to show gains in employment nearly three years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with its unemployment rate falling the fastest over the last 12 months than any other region. 

The state's unemployment rate in February remained unchanged in January at 4.2%. The higher rate is driven in large part by New York City, which recorded an unemployment rate of 5.6%. But that is a drop from the 7.2% unemployment rate recorded a year earlier. 

In non-New York City metropolitan counties, the unemployment rate is 4.4%. Metropolitan counties immediately outside New York City have a lower rate of 3.5%, according to the state Department of Labor. 

New York is estimated to have lost about 2 million jobs in the immediate wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and statewide is not full expected to gain those jobs back for another several years.