Bloomie's jobs initiative not quite going as planned

From Crain's:

The city's unemployment rate remained in double digits last month, rising slightly to 10.3% from a revised 10.2% in August, signaling the recession is far from over in the five boroughs, a report by the state Department of Labor shows.

The jobless rate is up from 6% last September, and is at its highest level in 16 years. The state's unemployment rate held steady at 8.9%.

The sharp increase in unemployment reflects both a shrinking economy—the number of employed residents fell by 128,000 over the year—and a 50,000-person growth in the city's labor force. The rate remained highest in the Bronx, at 13.3% and in Brooklyn, at 11%.

The number of New Yorkers unemployed for six months or more jumped more than 60% to 111,497 in the third quarter of the year, when compared to the previous quarter, according to an analysis of Current Population Survey data by the city comptroller’s office.

“It's more of the same,” said James Brown, principal economist at the state Department of Labor. “It's a weak picture. It's continued losses in key sectors like finance and professional and business services.”