A Bronx cheer for state’s worst unemployment

Even as unemployment rates among New Yorkers gradually diminish, jobseekers in the Bronx are lagging behind the rest of the state.

A report released last week said the borough has the highest unemployment rate of any county in New York State.

According to a study by the New York State Labor Department, the number of people with no jobs in the borough reached 11.8 percent in June.  That figure is down from last year’s number when 14 percent of the borough’s residents were unemployed.  The record high unemployment rate for the borough was recorded in 1992 at 14.2 percent.

St. Lawrence County registered the next highest jobless rate in the state at 9.6 percent.  Saratoga and Tompkins Counties currently enjoy the state’s lowest unemployment rates at 5.7 percent. 

Despite the slight reduction in unemployment, many Bronxites are struggling to find work and earn cash in the meantime to meet their everyday needs.

And the entire borough is affected to some degree; from the gritty industrial centers where laborers assemble before the sun breaks over the horizon hoping to find at least one day’s worth of pay for their services to the ribbons of tree lined streets winding through the sleepy and relatively secure enclaves overlooking the sharp cliffs of the Palisades and the steady current of the Hudson River. 

Tommy Dolan, 48, was collecting recyclable cans and bottles at one such place — the southwest corner of West 259th Street and Riverdale Avenue.  Mr. Dolan said he has not worked a regular job in more than three years.  A car accident forced him to relinquish his job as a sewer and drain mechanic.  Since his recovery, Mr. Dolan said he has applied for several maintenance positions but no one has yet hired him.

“I would like a regular job but I haven’t had any luck getting one,” said Mr. Dolan, who has applied for maintenance positions at the College of Mount St. Vincent and the Classic Residence Retirement Home in Yonkers.  “I do this, for now,” he said, referring to his recyclable gathering.  “It gives me some cash to help pay the rent and keeps me in shape.”

Overall, the number of employed Americans across the country has jumped slightly during the past year.  According to the U.S. Labor Department, the unemployment rate in the country fell from 8.2 percent last June to 7.6 percent this June.

New York State enjoyed a boost in employment with 110,500 private sector jobs injected into the economy, this according to the state’s Labor Department.  As a result, the state’s jobless rate dropped from 8.9 percent last June to 7.5 percent this year.  

According to a report released by the New York State Comptroller’s office last month, private sector jobs increased 7.7 percent between 2007 and 2012, when many businesses were suffering during a time of recession across the country.  Only Brooklyn experienced more rapid job growth in the city.

Borough leaders are trying to build on those gains. 

“The Bronx is changing, and we are working hard to retain thousands of jobs and create new employment opportunities for all Bronxites, and in every corner of the borough,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

The comptroller’s report said that since 1983 job growth has risen 33 percent with the addition of 56,300 new jobs. But that figure is counterbalanced by the addition of roughly 240,000 new residents to the Bronx between 1980 and 2012 – a 20 percent jump. 

In the meantime, those seeking jobs in the borough continue their battle for steady pay along the streets of the Bronx. 

Mr. Dolan, who was collecting cans and bottles in Riverdale and recently completed his General Education Degree, enjoys reading more at this time in his life and is looking to embark on a new career involving less strenuous physical activity.

“I can’t do as much heavy lifting anymore,” said Mr. Dolan, who has suffered a herniated disc.  “I would like to get some training and start a different kind of job.”