Unemployment among blacks and Latinos in city drops in 2 years

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said new economic data shows unemployment among Black and Latino people will fall significantly between 2022 and 2024.

Between Jan. 1, 2022, and July 1, 2024, the Black unemployment rate in the five boroughs fell from 10.7% to 7.3% — a 31.7% drop and nearly a full percentage point lower than pre-COVID levels, a press release said.

During the same period, the unemployment rate among Latinos fell from 9.1% to 6.5%, a decrease of 28.6%.

According to the press release, labor force participation rates for Black, Indigenous and people of color, including Latinos, and white New Yorkers increased over the same period.

“The data is clear: New York City is not just coming back, we are back,” Adams said. “We have more jobs and more small businesses than ever before in our city’s history, and our Black and Latino unemployment rate is about 30 percent lower than it was when we took office. That’s tens of thousands more hardworking New Yorkers who are able to provide for themselves and their families. But we won’t stop here — we won’t stop creating opportunities for all New Yorkers to thrive.”

The Adams administration has invested millions of dollars in job creation, including launching and implementing projects such as the Brooklyn Army Terminal and the Brooklyn Marine Terminal.

“Three months into his tenure, Mayor Adams outlined a jobs blueprint to guide the city’s recovery while building a more resilient, equitable economy. The results speak for themselves: record private-sector and total job creation, record labor force participation, and record small business growth,” said Andrew Kimball, president and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).