Bronx unemployment drops

Unemployment in the Bronx, long the worst in the city, dropped to single digits, according to new figures from the state’s Department of Labor.

Data released Tuesday placed unemployment in Bronx County at 9.8 percent — down from 12.1 percent in August 2013.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. took credit for the improvement, saying he made job creation a top priority of his administration. 

“Over the past five years my office, in partnership with the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, city and state officials, our business community, non-profits and everyday Bronxites, we have worked hard to create thousands of new jobs in the Bronx. What we are doing is working,” he said in a statement.

Job fair held

Following the summer launch of a $200,000 program aimed at linking Bronxites and employers, state Sen. Co-majority Leader Jeff Klein hosted a job fair at Hutchinson Metro Center in the east Bronx earlier this month.

More than 400 job seekers came to the Sept. 3 event, according to a release from Mr. Klein’s office.

At the July 9 press conference announcing the start of the program, held in partnership with the Bronx Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Klein predicted Bronx H.I.R.E. would help Bronxites get 1,000 jobs over the next six months.

It was not clear which employers were at the job fair this month, held at the same complex that houses Mr. Klein’s office and the Bronx Chamber of Commerce.

The senator’s office did not immediately answer an inquiry asking how many people from the northwest Bronx came to the job fair.

KRVC honored

Riverdale’s Councilman Andrew Cohen has honored the Kingsbridge Riverdale Van Cortlandt Development Corporation (KRVC) with a City Council proclamation praising its series of outdoor movie nights.

Quoth the encomium:

“Whereas: Movie Night in the Park has brought many families together to celebrate nature, the outdoors and love of the cinema. It creates a sense of community and common values which brings people from diverse backgrounds and all over the Bronx together in a satisfying way to watch and enjoy the movies.