New York City Unemployment Rises to 9.1 Percent in January

Applicants wait to meet potential employers at a Manhattan job fair on Jan. 17, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—The city’s unemployment rate crept up from 8.8 percent in December to 9.1 percent in January, according to statistics released by the State Labor Department on Thursday.

The national unemployment rate also rose from 7.8 in December to 7.9 percent in January.

Government and manufacturing continue to be the sectors with the most job losses.

New York State added 29,600 private sector jobs in January, a record 17-month growth streak. The gains were primarily in professional and business services, educational and health services, leisure and hospitality, and trade, transportation, and utilities.

While the jobs gained are promising, job grown in education, health, and social services have annual average wages below the citywide mean of $77,997 in 2010, according to an IBO report issued in January 2013. 

[Related: City’s Unemployment Rate at 10 Percent]

The report said the gains in professional and business services would have wages above the citywide mean. 

“The growth in comparatively lower paying jobs is better than the alternative—job losses. But lower paying jobs don’t give as big a boost as higher paying ones to the local economy and the city’s tax revenue,” a statement from IBO said. “And that means less relief for a city budget already straining to keep up with the demand for public services.”