City lowers unemployment rate with jobs program

A citywide initiative called Jobs NYC aims to lower the high unemployment rate of Black and Latino New Yorkers and reduce barriers leading to economic opportunities.

City Hall had what they called a six-month sprint, which started in February, of going into communities with high unemployment rates and connecting them with jobs in both the private and public sector.

On Friday, Shaniqua Rumph had her first solo day out in the field as an inspector with the City’s Department of Transportation.

She’s an apprentice highway and sewer inspector, a role she’s only had for about three months.

“A year ago, I was more in a depressed state because I felt time was getting away from me,” Rumph said.

The 37-year-old mother of four was unemployed for an entire year until she attended one of a couple dozen hiring fairs hosted by the city.

“While our job numbers, and our private sector job numbers, have been at an all-time high, the unemployment rate for Black and Brown New Yorkers has been too high,” Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer said.

Fresh off the height of the pandemic in January 2022, more than one out of 10 Black New Yorkers were unemployed and about one in 11 Latinos were jobless.

Torres-Springer leads the Jobs NYC initiative, which hosted the hiring fair, helping to bridge the unemployment gap for minorities, which citywide was 7.7%.

“The pandemic was a major factor,” Torres-Springer said. “And we have to be honest that there are historic inequities, structural issues, that have created barriers for Black and Brown communities.”

During the six-month initiative, 2,700 interviews were done. Rumph was one of 850 people who received job offers, a number the city says is likely to grow.

“I am happy. I don’t know if I exude this happiness, but it’s just a feeling that you get,” Rumph said.

In part through the program, the city has lowered the unemployment rate for Blacks to about 7% and for Latinos 6.5%. Citywide unemployment sits at 5%.

Rumph says nothing can beat how it feels when she goes home and takes off that orange vest.

“I had a conversation with my daughter, and she said ‘mommy, if I didn’t tell you this, you are doing it.’ She said, ‘You know, I’m really proud of you, mommy,’” Rumph said.

The city said the program not only connected 850 people to jobs but also free training and workforce development resources.