NYS Unemployment – NYS Department of Labor Reveals Stats

According to the latest press release from the NYS Department of Labor, NYS unemployment rate held steady at 8.8% in February 2010. The number of unemployed state residents decreased slightly, from 851,400 in January to 845,100 in February 2010.

New York State’s economy gained 8,100 private sector jobs (+0.1%) in February 2010, the State Labor Department reported today. This was the state’s second straight monthly increase. The state’s total nonfarm job count increased by 5,800 (+0.1%) in February 2010. The nonfarm job count measures total employment in the private and public sectors. It excludes the self-employed, and workers in private households and agriculture.

The state’s private sector job count peaked in April 2008. Since then, the state has lost 321,900 jobs. That is about 80% of the net jobs added between 2003 and 2008.

“New York State’s labor market continues to improve. We’ve now added jobs for two consecutive months and the state’s unemployment rate has leveled off. However, following previous recessions, it has taken the state about five years, on average, to regain all of the jobs lost during a downturn,” said Peter A. Neenan, Ph.D., Director of the Division of Research and Statistics.