New York State Unemployment

The New York unemployment rate has remained stable for the six month period between March 2010 and August 2010. In March 2010 the New York State (NYS) unemployment rate was 8.6 percent, meaning that 831.5 thousand people were unemployed out of a civilian labor force of 9,653,000, according to Unemployment data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division of the Department of Labor. In July 2010, the Civilian Labor Force had climbed to 9,659,000 individuals, with 8,863,000 individuals employed, 796,000 unemployed, and unemployment rate of 8.2.

These changes in New York unemployment figures indicate that the reason that NYS unemployment figures have improved because fewer individuals have been eligible to receive NYS Unemployment insurance. At the same time, however, there were nearly as many layoff events in the month of July as there were in the previous three months, leading to almost as many individuals making an initial claim for NYS unemployment insurance in the month of July as there were in April, May, and June 2010.