New York Unemployment up Again

Living in New York City without a job? You're not alone.

According to new statistics released by the New York State Department of Labor, New York City's unemployment rate rose to 8.8 percent during the month of October. That's .1 percent more than it was in September, but down .2 percent from one year ago.

While the unemployment rate continues to stagnate somewhere around 9 percent, jobs have actually increased in the private sector. The unemployment rate has managed to fall despite the additional jobs because of an increase of people entering the workforce, according to a Crain's New York article.

The Department of Labor report says that New York City grew private sector jobs by .6 percent in the past year. While the number of jobs at professional and business services was growing, it hasn't been enough to curb the gap between unemployment probabilities of different races: Hispanics and Black (non-Hispanics) make up for a disproportionate amount of unemployment. Fourteen percent of Blacks and 10.7 percent of Hispanics remain unemployed across the state compared to 5.2 percent unemployment rate among Asians and 6.4 percent of Whites. Unemployment statistics are not currently available specific to race/ethnicity in New York City.