New York City’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped to 10 percent in June, matching a post- recession peak reached in the six months through February 2010, the state Labor Department said.
The rate climbed from 9.7 percent in May, even as the city’s private employers added about 11,500 jobs, James Brown, a labor department economist, said today in an e-mail. The rate is up from 8.9 percent a year ago.
A growing city labor force over the past 12 months helped push up the unemployment rate, which is an estimated ratio of the people not working as a percentage of the total seeking employment, the department said.
“Despite strong job creation by New York City’s businesses, the number of city residents with jobs is essentially flat over the prior 12 months,” Brown said.
The department recorded gains in professional, scientific and technical services, and retail. Industries that showed weakness include construction and wholesale trade, and leisure and hospitality, which usually shows gains in June, Brown said.
For New York state, June’s jobless rate was 8.9 percent, up from 8.6 percent in May, while the U.S. rate stood at 8.2 percent, the department said.
Stu Loeser, press secretary to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said the administration would respond to the report later today. The mayor is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent company Bloomberg LP.
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