Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the largest monthly gain in the number of New Yorkers employed in almost three decades, resulting in more New York City residents with jobs than at any time in the City's history, according to the New York State Department of Labor. The number of New Yorkers employed rose by 30,400 in September, the largest monthly gain since comparable employment data collection began in 1978. This led to an increase of 66,600 New Yorkers employed in the past year and about 150,000 since September 2003. Total private sector employment has risen by 46,000 jobs in the past year.

The City's unemployment rate was 6.0% in September, up from 5.1% in August, as more than 67,000 additional residents entered the labor force, also the largest such increase since employment data collection began. Still, the 6.0% rate in September is down from a rate of 6.8% in September 2004 and 8.4% two years ago.

"The fact that more New Yorkers have jobs today than at any time in our history reflects the strength of our Administration's five-borough economic development strategy. We're on pace to issue more housing permits in 2005 than in any year in three decades; our office vacancy rate is lower than nearly every other major city in the nation; and unemployment has dropped in all five boroughs.  By making the nation's safest big city even safer, attracting private investment to areas throughout the City and supporting our core and emerging industries, we are continuing to grow our economy and create jobs for all New Yorkers."