The unemployment rate in New York City jumped to 9.6 percent in July, up two-tenths of a percentage point since June, and the highest level in twelve years, even as the state figure fell slightly, to 8.6 percent from 8.7 percent, the state’s Labor Department reports.
Since the same time last year, unemployment in the city is up from 5.4 percent, with 93,200 private-sector jobs lost.
The national rate is 9.4 percent.
The main culprit in the city is, of course, financial and often-related professional services. Statewide, over the past year, the financial-services industry has lost 40,500 jobs, 28,000 of them in the securities industry, disproportionately affecting the city. Professional and business-service jobs are down by 56,400.
In the past month, though, these two areas gained 3,600 jobs.
Statewide, government has gained 28,400 jobs over the past year, although it shed 100 jobs in the past month.
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