Weird, the latest job numbers aren't wrist-slittingly depressing. According to the state Labor Department, in February the city’s official unemployment rate was 10.2 percent, down from 10.4 percent in January! Break out the champagne, and try to forget that our unemployment rate is still stubbornly higher than the national unemployment rate, which was 9.7 for February.
The city lost over 160,000 jobs between February 2009 and February 2010. And while the number of private-sector jobs in the city rose by 8,100 last month, that's still fewer than half the average gain over the same period in the past decade. The finance and construction industries are still hemorrhaging, but jobs were added last month in business services, leisure and hospitality.
Statewide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 8.8% in February, and the number of unemployed state residents decreased slightly, from 851,400 in January to 845,100 in February. And the federal Labor Department reports that the number of New Yorkers filing new claims for unemployment benefits decreased by more than 4,100, a bigger decline than in any other state. We're BACK—time to refinance our mortgages and get some new flat screens.
