Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958
Curt Ritter (212) 788-2971
"In the first half of the year the City has gained 75,600 new private sector jobs versus the first six month of 1997 and has now surpassed the record of 66,000 jobs gained in 1956," said Mayor Giuliani. "In addition, in June private sector employment was up 86,300, a three percent increase over June 1997. This essentially matches the largest 12 month increase since 1952. On top of our City's continued record job growth our City's unemployment rate continues to fall. In June the City's unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent from 7.7 percent in May - a drop of 2.2 percentage points from over a year ago, and the lowest level since January 1991 - while the national unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in June, compared to 4.3 percent in May, an increase of 0.2 percent.
"The number of unemployed City residents also fell sharply by more than 7,000 in June and has declined dramatically over the last four months by 46,000 or 15.5 percent," the Mayor continued. "With our historic reductions in crime, continued private sector job growth, targeted tax cuts and conservative fiscal spending, our City has a bright future ahead. As we begin the second half of the year these factors all point to a revitalized City, one that all New Yorkers can all be proud of," the Mayor concluded.