CITY UNEMPLOYMENT AT 5-YEAR HIGH

Reacting today to revisions of New York City employment figures, New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. noted that the City's unemployment has reached its highest rate since February 1998.

"At 8.6 percent, the City's January unemployment rate is the highest in five years," said Comptroller Thompson. "The combination of the recession and the effects of 9/11 have continued to adversely effect the City's economy. New York City's jobs recession continues."

New York City payroll jobs in January are now estimated at 3,495,200 (not adjusted for seasonal factors), a loss of 39,800 from January 2002. Of this total, 2,932,300 jobs are in the private sector, a loss of 37,000 jobs from the same month in 2002.

The number of New York City residents who were unemployed in January (not adjusted for seasonal factors) was 334,400, which was an increase of 48,900 over the same month a year earlier. The number of employed New Yorkers fell to 3,350,600, a decline of 41,400 compared with the same month a year earlier. The difference indicates that more New Yorkers were looking for work in January 2003 than in January 2002. As a result, the City's unadjusted unemployment rate in January was up by 1.3 percentage points over the same month a year earlier.

The revised data is based on the new reporting categories required by the North American Industry Classification System, which was implemented today by New York State. The New York City Comptroller's Office will revise its historical data to be consistent with the new classifications. Analysis based on the new classifications will be released in the near future.

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