Mayor Adams Celebrates 30 Percent Reductions in Black, Latino Unemployment Since Start of Administration

July 23, 2024

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today celebrated new economic data showing significant decreases in Black and Latino unemployment since the beginning of his administration, building on progress from previous quarters and ensuring that the new all-time jobs high, that New York City is currently at, is bringing prosperity to all New Yorkers. Between January 1, 2022, and July 1, 2024, the Black unemployment rate in the five boroughs decreased from 10.7 percent to 7.3 percent — a 31.7 percent decrease and nearly a full percentage point below the level pre-COVID. In that same timeframe, the Latino unemployment rate decreased from 9.1 percent to 6.5 percent — a 28.6 percent decrease. The labor force participation rates for Black, indigenous, and people of color, including Latino, as well as white New Yorkers have all increased over the same period as well.

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

“Since taking office, our administration remains focused on improving the quality of life for working-class New Yorkers — especially communities of color, who are often left behind during economic recoveries,” said First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright. “ A decrease of 30 percent unemployment for Black and Latino New Yorkers is a step in the right direction, and we have more to do.  We recently launched our whole-of-government Jobs NYC effort and organized a record 24 hiring halls in target neighborhoods across the city, seeing more than 7,200 job seekers for both the public and private sectors. New Yorkers will continue to see and feel our efforts as we tackle decades-long problems and make New York City work for every New Yorker.”

“New York City's economy is strong and growing stronger each month, with June setting historic highs for total jobs, private-sector jobs, labor force participation, and the lowest unemployment rate since mid-2022,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, & Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “Importantly, we see that this progress shows up in the data for Black and Latino New Yorkers and reflects how the Adams administration has focused, and will continue to focus, on building an equitable, resilient, and inclusive economy.”

“Three months into office, Mayor Adams outlined a jobs blueprint to guide the city’s recovery while building a more resilient, equitable economy. The results speak for themselves: a record number of private-sector and total jobs, a record workforce participation rate, and a record number of small businesses,” said New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President and CEO Andrew Kimball. “We are thrilled to see real progress in cutting the Black and Latino unemployment rate and will stay focused on working with the mayor on transformative NYCEDC projects that will deliver high-wage, high-growth jobs from Willets Point in Queens to the North Shore of Staten Island, from Hunts Point in the Bronx to the Brooklyn Marine Terminal, and from SPARC Kips Bay in Manhattan to Broadway Junction in Brooklyn.”

“Every day, the New York City Department of Small Business Services prepares and connects New Yorkers to good jobs through our 18 Workforce1 centers and by reaching deeply into neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs,” said New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) Acting Commissioner Dynishal Gross. “Today’s good news on Black and Latino employment, combined with the city’s attainment of an historic number of jobs, demonstrates that our efforts are paying off. SBS will continue to grow our economy by matching New Yorkers with employment opportunities that help jobseekers and businesses alike.”

"Today's announcement shows that the Adams administration's strategy to address the historically high unemployment rates in the city's Black and Latino communities works — making the city's economy more inclusive and securing a major win for all New Yorkers,” said New York City Mayor’s Office of Talent and Workforce Development Executive Director Abby Jo Sigal. "Initiatives including Jobs NYC, community hiring and Mayor Adams' commitment to creating 30,000 apprenticeships by 2030 are building onramps to economic mobility by connecting New Yorkers to career opportunities, generating robust talent pipelines for employers, and advancing shared prosperity."

The Adams administration has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in creating good, family-sustaining, public- and private-sector jobs for New Yorkers. The administration has launched and advanced transformative projects in all five boroughs, including projects ranging from the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx, to the Brooklyn Army Terminal and Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Brooklyn, to SPARC Kips Bay in Manhattan, to Willets Point in Queens, and to the North Shore Action Plan in Staten Island. Cumulatively, these projects will create tens of thousands of permanent and temporary construction jobs, generate more than $100 billion in long-term economic impact, and cultivate good-paying, 21st-century job opportunities.

Additionally, the administration launched “Jobs NYC,” a multi-pronged citywide effort to reduce barriers to economic opportunities and deliver workforce development services directly to communities across the five boroughs that are experiencing high unemployment, and “Run This Town,” a multi-media advertising campaign to engage diverse New Yorkers and help them apply for thousands of available city government jobs. Both campaigns are expected to further reduce the unacceptable disparities in employment between Black, Latino, and white communities. The city is also on track to deliver over 14,000 apprenticeship opportunities by the end of 2024 — ahead of schedule and nearly halfway towards the moonshot goal announced last year at Mayor Adams’ 2023 State of the City address. 

Last month, Mayor Adams announced the city’s first-ever community hiring effort, which will leverage more than $1.2 billion in city contracts to create job opportunities for underserved New Yorkers. Community hiring allows the city to use its purchasing power, set hiring goals across city procurement contracts, and build on the success of existing project labor agreements and agency-specific hiring programs.

In the last 17 months, Mayor Adams has successfully negotiated contracts with unions representing 96 percent of the city's workforce and 100 percent of the city's uniformed workforce — the quickest any mayoral administration has reached that milestone in modern city history. These agreements with District Council 37, Communications Workers of America Local 1180, the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association, Uniformed Sanitation Workers' Union Local 831, the United Federation of Teachers, the Police Benevolent Association, the Uniformed Officers Coalition, the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, Teamsters Local 237, and dozens of other unions have all included wage increases, including retroactive wage increases for employees that had not received a raise in years. Additionally, many of these contracts included dedicated funding to address retention and recruitment challenges and other important benefits, such as the child care fund established in the agreement with DC 37.

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