New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. issued the following statement regarding the unemployment figures released today by the New York State Department of Labor which showed the City’s unemployment rate was 10.3 percent in August, up from 9.5 percent in July:

“The sharp increase in the City’s unemployment rate to a number not seen since May of 1993 shows that while there is talk of the recession coming to an end, New Yorkers, in all five boroughs, are still suffering its effects.  In the past two years the number of unemployed throughout our City has grown by more than 200,000, with many more New Yorkers forced to work part-time jobs in order to put food on the table and others giving up their job search entirely. Today’s news is a sobering reminder of what New Yorkers are going through. We must ensure that all attention is focused on creating jobs and getting people back to work as soon as possible.”

One Year Later

Last August, just before the recession began to take hold on New York, the City’s unemployment rate was 6.0 percent.    Comptroller Thompson has provided a snapshot of the unemployment picture in each borough from one year ago as compared to today.  

“Each and every borough has been drastically affected by the impact of this recession, but it is extremely troubling to see how far our City has slid in just one year,” Thompson said.  “We must ensure that our City is taking all the proactive steps possible to help combat the devastatingly high unemployment rates in each of the five boroughs.”

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