New York City’s Jobless Rate Increased to 8.6% in August despite Hiring Gains
This article points out several interesting facts regarding the unemployment rates in the New York state compared with the same phenomenon in New Jersey. This article is dealing with the idea of states’ job statistics and unemployment. Christopher A. Pissarides describes unemployment in his book “Unemployment Equilibrium Theory” as an economic indicator that refers to the number or proportion of the people in an economy who are willing and able to work at the prevailing market rates, but are unable to get a job (p. 46). According to McGeehan, the New York’s unemployment rates in August moved to 8.6% percent from 8.5% in the previous month (McGeehan, 2013). However, he also points out that despite this report on the increasing unemployment rates, the number of people getting jobs in New York has also increased. He indicates that in August, the employers in both public and private sectors added a total of 10,200 jobs in the state, bringing the total gain of the year to about 85,000.
Several factors might have contributed to the increasing unemployment rates despite the increasing hiring in the city. For instance, McGeehan quotes the assertions of Elena Voloverlsky, an economic analyst with the State Labor department who indicates that some of the job losses are because of the summer interns that are returning to schools. Other factors include the fact that the number of people actively looking for jobs have increased in the city. Additionally, the numbers of people losing jobs have also increased in the city. Moreover, the graduates from colleges in the city have also increased as well as immigrants actively seeking employment placements within the city. This has resulted in a rightward shift of the New York’s unemployment rates.
This graph indicates a rightward shift for the New York unemployment and a leftward shift for New Jersey, which implies that the number of people seeking jobs, and cannot not find them in New York city is increasingly growing compared to New Jersey. Moreover, McGeehan gives statistics that there are 338,000 unemployed people in New Jersey less than those in the New York. Additionally, half of the 730,000 unemployed in New York State lives in New York City, which implies that number of people seeking work in cities, are increasing because people are moving to the cities to seek employment. Nevertheless, economists strongly believe that considering the trends in New York, the employment numbers provide optimism for the economy, which had been affected greatly by the recession. When the economy eventually picks up, these economists believe that more people would be absorbed into employment, thereby reducing the unemployment rates.
Works Cited:
Pissarides, Christopher. Equilibrium Unemployment Theory. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2000. Print
McGeehan, Patrick. New York City’s Jobless Rate Increased to 8.6% in August despite Hiring Gains. The New York Times. Web Thursday, September 19, 2013.
