COMMUNITY
CHIROPRATIC
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, O 52 CT. 15-21, 2021 BTR
Bronx slashes unemployment,
wages remain stagnated
The Bronx had the highest unemployment in the nation during the height of the pandemic, and
its September 13.9% rate remains highest of the fi ve boroughs. Photo REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA Bronx County has managed to
nearly slice its unemployment
rate in half as it entered the
month of September, according
to data released by the state’s Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
The Bronx had the highest unemployment
rate in the nation — 24.6% in
June 2020 — during the height of the pandemic,
and their unemployment rate of
13.9% remains the highest of the fi ve boroughs.
Recent labor stats also show that
Bronx wages have not increased signifi -
cantly over the past year. The Bronx only
saw a 3.5% increase in over-the-year increases
in average weekly wages, which
is second-lowest –to Queens — among the
boroughs.
According to fi rst-quarter 2021 statistics,
the Bronx totaled a weekly wage of
$1,108, which is higher than Richmond
and Kings counties, but still lower than
the fi rst-quarter national average of
$1,289.
In New York City, leisure and hospitality
were the hardest hit sectors during
the COVID-19 pandemic. By comparison,
the wage average in Manhattan was up
21% over the year, but no particular industry
had that big of a gain, labor statistics
show. Rather, according to region
economist Bruce Bergman, it was due to
a combination of a large employment loss
in a low-paying industry, leisure and hospitality,
combined with wage increases.
“In the Bronx, the leisure and hospitality
industry is less prevalent than in
Manhattan. Not only that, but the makeup
of the sector in the two boroughs is
different,” Bergman said.
Performing arts and accommodation
businesses are much less common
in the Bronx, which economists fi gure
is the reason why the borough’s leisure
and hospitality employment may not
have declined as much as it did in Manhattan.
Bronx payrolls also declined by
6.9%, compared to a loss of 14.7% in Manhattan.
Although education and health services
are twice as prevalent in the Bronx
as in Manhattan and throughout the nation,
the borough was unfortunately not
immune to employment loss. Nationally,
education and health services lost
about 4% of its payroll employment; and
unadjusted data from the quarterly census
shows about a 6% loss in the Bronx,
which was less than what occurred in
Manhattan and in Staten Island.
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