Financial 411: A Look at the Latest Jobs Numbers
New York City and state's unemployment rates stayed steady last month — at 8.6 and 7.9 percent, respectively.
The state's Labor Department reported that in the past year, New York City had some of the fastest growth in jobs at colleges and universities. On the flip side, federal workers in New York City were downsized by nearly 35 percent.
Barbara Byrne Denham, chief economist at Eastern Consolidated, said the latest report was a little disappointing because jobs numbers were flat. She called it "a bump in the road," with retail, the film industry and health services industries reporting jobs losses last month.
She talked about what the latest numbers mean for the city, and what they say about about Wall Street and the financial industry.
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, the unemployment rate rose to 9.4 percent in May, from 9.3 percent in April. Job losses were felt in manufacturing, retail and construction sectors.
Markets
Stocks rose early, but gave up much of their gains in the afternoon, as worry grew over the Greek debt crisis. At the closing bell, the Dow was up 64 points, closing at 11,962. It was a different story for the Nasdaq, which lost eight points, ending at 2,624.
