NYC, NJ Lost More Jobs Than Anywhere Else in the Country in October
By Rebecca Baird-Remba December 3, 2020 2:05 pm
reprints
Coronavirus continues to hit the five boroughs and New Jersey hard, as the greater New York metropolitan area lost more jobs year-over-year in October than any other part of the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly report.
The city’s metropolitan statistical area — which includes New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, and north and central New Jersey — saw the number of jobs decline by 1,017,600 in October, compared to the same month in 2019. For the month of October, the tri-state area lost more jobs year-over-year than any of the other 389 U.S. metro areas tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Employment numbers declined in all 51 metro areas with a population of 1 million or more. While the Las Vegas region led the pack with a 10.5 percent decline in year-over-year unemployment, New York/New Jersey came close with a 10.1 percent decline for people employed compared to a year ago.
The national unemployment rate was 6.9 percent in October. The greater New York area had a 9.7 percent unemployment rate, per BLS, compared to 3.5 percent during the same time last year. The five boroughs, however, experienced a 13 percent unemployment rate, which is an improvement from 16 percent in August. For comparison, the pre-COVID unemployment rate last October was just 3.7 percent in New York City.
The numbers come as New York is experiencing a second wave of COVID-19 cases. The city reported 3,200 new cases on Dec. 2 — a number of new infections that hasn’t been seen since late April.
