The Bronx is yet again the only county in the state with double digit unemployment numbers. Brooklyn is at 8.3%, which is very high, the second highest in the state, but at a whopping 10.8%, up from 10.6% the prior month, the Bronx is still facing an employment crisis that must be the most important policy issue that our local leaders tackle.
The state’s private sector job count increased by 137,300 from June 2013 to June 2014 which is promising state-wide, but begs the question why we are having such a rough time here in the city’s northernmost borough. As reported last week, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in June 2014 fell by 0.1% to 6.6%, its lowest level since November 2008. In June 2014, the number of private sector jobs in the state was 7,589,600, an all-time high.
The June 2014 private sector job gains marked New York State’s 19th consecutive month of private sector job growth, the state’s longest streak on record since at least 1990, but that good news for Governor Cuomo and former Bronx Assemblyman Peter Rivera, the state’s Labor Dept. head, means not so much for our borough which is hurting.
With news all summer of discretionary funding choices by elected officials, little has come out about funding programs and efforts that directly target this insidious problem in our county. While much funding enables organizations to continue to operate by enabling a freeing of capital for salaries of critical staff that facilitate the good work the organizations do, most of these organizations do not address the growth of jobs in the borough. One notable exception this summer was the $6 million dollars coming from the state for the new Fulton Economic Development and Community Reentry Center, which will specifically target unemployment for formerly encarcerated Bronxites. (Read more about it here.) But, I wish I would have seen a similar program receiving significant funding to help other populations of Bronxites who are unemployed and forced to utilize public assistance. The formerly encarcerated definately need help, but so do mothers returning to the workplace, college educated Bronx young people seeking appropriate work for their education to be able to pay student loans, and seniors who need an income beyond social security and other available services. Bronxites want to work. And they need help. More help.
One bright spot: with hundreds of jobs opening this summer in Throggs Neck and Coop City at major retail locations, including Tuesday’s grand opening of Target near Brush Avenue, we will be hoping to see a small drop in the unemployment rate in the next 2 to 3 months. We can hope. But when we see hundreds of tech jobs coming to downtown Brooklyn, a commute that is a bit too far for many Bronxites, we can hope that in the future, especially as development increases around the new Metro North stations in the East Bronx, more professional jobs will be shepherded for our neighbors and family members.
Rate of Unemployment By County of Residence (other 4 boroughs in italics)
New York State, June 2014
(Not seasonally adjusted)
Albany 5.1% Niagara 6.0%
Allegany 6.3% Oneida 6.2%
Bronx 10.8% Onondaga 5.8%
Broome 6.6% Ontario 5.3%
Cattaraugus 6.2% Orange 5.8%
Cayuga 5.5% Orleans 6.6%
Chautauqua 6.3% Oswego 7.8%
Chemung 6.5% Otsego 5.3%
Chenango 5.6% Putnam 4.6%
Clinton 6.7% Queens 6.9%
Columbia 4.8% Rensselaer 5.4%
Cortland 6.5% Richmond 7.1%
Delaware 6.3% Rockland 4.9%
Dutchess 5.3% St. Lawrence 7.8%
Erie 6.0% Saratoga 4.5%
Essex 6.5% Schenectady 5.4%
Franklin 6.9% Schoharie 6.5%
Fulton 6.8% Schuyler 5.7%
Genesee 4.8% Seneca 5.3%
Greene 6.1% Steuben 7.0%
Hamilton 4.2% Suffolk 5.0%
Herkimer 6.0% Sullivan 6.6%
Jefferson 7.1% Tioga 6.2%
Kings 8.3% Tompkins 4.5%
Lewis 7.0% Ulster 6.1%
Livingston 5.8% Warren 5.3%
Madison 6.0% Washington 5.2%
Monroe 5.8% Wayne 5.6%
Montgomery 6.8% Westchester 5.1%
Nassau 4.8% Wyoming 5.6%
New York 6.4% Yates 4.8%
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