Yesterday, the NY State Department of Labor revealed the state unemployment rate climbed to 7% in January, up from 6.6% in December. More troubling, 25% of the 400,000 jobs added between July 2003 (the state's last decline) and August 2008 were lost in the final months of 2008. Division of Research and Statistics. director Peter Neenan said the data "continue to underscore the severity of the steadily deepening recession in New York State." There are almost 500,000 New Yorkers collecting unemployment right now.
For some further context, the unemployment rate in NY State in January 2008 was 4.7%. Additionally, the unemployment rate in NYC was 6.9% for January (which is slightly down from the 7% in December); NYC unemployment was 4.8% in January 2008. Regarding the higher national unemployment numbers, James Brown, who analyzes the NYC data for the DOL, told CityRoom, "It can be expected that [NY state and city] job losses will widen dramatically over the next few months and the pace of over-the-year losses will approach the national performance."
State Labor Commissioner M. Patricia Smith announced measures to help unemployed New Yorkers, including "the expansion of hours of operation at One-Stop Career Centers across the state; the establishment of temporary One-Stop Career Centers located at local and community-based organizations in rural communities; and the delivery of career preparation workshops preceding Labor Department-sponsored job fairs."
