Queens Jobs Market 2009

Queens Job Market Improving

Queens Neighborhoods / December 12, 2009.  Given the state of the economy, we decided to do a brief review of how Queens has fared over the past year and what to look forward to in the new year.  To begin this effort we decided to take a look at the employment base of Queens. The Queens job market is fairly well rounded as it derives its income from a variety of different industries. This provides an overview of the employment base in Queens.

Queens Unemployment - Beats NYC & National Average

Employment Picture Improving

Queens currently trails the national average in unemployment, with a 9.1% unemployment rate vs 10.2% for the nation as a whole.  What's interesting is that coming into the year, Queens' unemployment rate had soared from 5.4% in July of 2008 to 9.6% by July 2009, rising above the national average in the process. Then this summer and into fall the Queens unemployment rate actually began falling from its high of 9.6% while the national average edged up over 10%.

I don't know if Queens has begun to add back jobs or if the unemployed have given up searching, or if it's a mix of both. But late this summer I had been hearing anecdotally, of employers seeking qualified employees and actually adding people to their payrolls. The last time I had heard this kind of news was well over a year ago. What puzzles me is why the established media hasn't made a big deal of the Queens unemployment rate declining - as this would seem to be big news. They certainly made a big deal of it when unemployment began rising. Given that we live in a service economy, it seems the cuts come faster in a downturn, stabilize more quickly - as one can only cut so far in service industries - and then add back employees slowly as the economy picks up again. Bear in mind that there's still a pretty sizeable household debt load, which will likely moderate people's spending habits.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report on the Queens Job Market / Employment in Queens NYC.