Construction is slowly increasing in the city, according to a new report.

The New York Building Congress reported Monday that private sector construction employment increased 2.4 percent in 2012.

And new construction is continuing to gain momentum in 2012, the report found, already up 1.3 percent from a year ago.

Wages remain unchanged, according to the report.

Construction employed 114,875 people in 2012, an increase from 112,192 in 2011.

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More New York City residents are working in low-wage jobs, according to a new study by the Center for an Urban Future.

According to their report published Thursday, more than a third of New York adults work in low-wage jobs.

In 2007, about 31 percent of New Yorkers were in a low-wage job, but now, that number is 35 percent.

This number has steadily risen throughout the last few years, and the percentage of New Yorkers working in low-wage jobs jumps to nearly half in the Bronx, the report states.

In that borough, 47 percent of working adults are in low-wage jobs.

In every borough but Queens, where 34 percent of people are making a low wage, the percentage has increased throughout the last five years, the center reported.

The group speculated that the increase might be due to more jobs requiring at least a college degree. At the same time, jobs usually available to people with a high school degree, like manufacturing and car repair, also go to those with higher degrees.

This trickle-down effect means that people with a high school degree are moving toward low-wage jobs like food service and retail.

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Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Monday a fleet of new programs he said will deliver new jobs to low-income New Yorkers.

Speaking at Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow, a Bushwick group that offers job-placement help, the mayor launched eight programs to connect New Yorkers with career placement.

One program will help people pursuing an associate degree or certification by giving them workplace experience in their field of study, such as an internship at a tech company for someone at CUNY’s New York City College of Technology.

Another program will create apps to link job searchers and gigs, for example helping a student find a job within a 30-minute subway ride.

Vacant land will also be put to employment use — designated areas in Brownsville and East New York can become businesses, like a pop-up store that could bring jobs.

Still another program targets immigrants, helping provide them with skills training and career planning.

Many immigrants arrive with advanced degrees from their home countries, like engineering or a medical degrees, but must undergo more education or training here.

Leslie Robbins, director of the Riverside Language Program, which offers free English for Speakers of Other Languages classes, recalled a conversation in a cab 25 years ago.

She asked her driver what he did before coming to New York.

“I was a cardiologist in Russia,” he replied, “but I have no dream of being a doctor in the U.S.”

With the new programs, she said, “New York City will benefit from a whole new pool of intellectual riches.”

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For the second time in two years, Kevin Kirwan, a logistics specialist for the Navy for 14 years in places like North Africa, can’t find a job.

Kirwan, 37, is one of an estimated 210,000 veterans in the city, many struggling to find employment after years of service.

The City Council met Monday to discuss ways to help them get hired.

According to the Council, the unemployment rate for recent veterans rose from 9.1 percent to 11.7 percent from 2012 to 2013. Meanwhile, the general unemployment rate fell from 8.3 percent to 7.9, percent.

“People who go out to fight for us, that protect our country, deserve the best, and we need to continue to give them the tools that are going to make them viable when they return,” Brooklyn Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez said.

Many vets struggle to translate battlefield experience for civilian jobs. And even if they were trained for jobs that exist in civilian life, they return only to find they are qualified to fix plumbing in Iraq, but not Queens.

To apply for a license, many city jobs require experience in the city or U.S. — meaning overseas military experience does not apply.

“If your work as a plumber or an electrician was good enough for the armed forces, it should be good enough for New York City,” Veterans Committee chair Mathieu Eugene said in the Monday hearing.

Metro profiled Kirwan in a 2011 story. After the article, his experience with logistics and administration landed him a job at Chase, but his project ended in January.

After three months of job fairs, visits to veterans’ help centers and countless applications—and with a 13-month-old son – he is worried about paying the bills.

“It’s frustrating,” he told Metro.

Kirwan is also trained as a safety inspector. Despite those skills, he would likely need local experience to get a job. But the Council bill might streamline skipping that step.

“This will definitely help,” he said, adding, “There’s just not get enough jobs until you get yourself in front of the right manager.”

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The City Council will meet today to discuss ways to help veterans get hired.

Council members hope to streamline the process for vets who return to New York only to find they were qualified to fix electrical problems in Iraq, but not Queens.

For example, an electrician in the Army would have to get re-certified to use those same skills in the civilian world.

“If you’ve had the experience of working as an electrician in a war zone, you’re more than qualified to be an electrician in New York City,” Council Speaker Christine Quinn said.

Just last week, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America reported that new veterans’ unemployment rate is stubbornly higher than the national rate. Post-9/11 veterans’ unemployment was 9.4 percent in February — 1.7 percent higher than the rest of the country, the group said.

Metro has previously written about veterans struggling to get jobs in New York — often, they can have trouble translating skills on the battlefield to the civilian world.

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Bonnie Kerrigan Snyder graduated from Harvard in 1987 and was thrown into a sinking economy — and a job market not terribly interested in English majors. Today she’s a family college consultant, and she sees her clients struggling with the same obstacles she ran into post-graduation — only much worse.

Her latest book, “The Unemployed College Graduate’s Survival Guide: How to Get Your Life Together, Deal with Debt, and Find a Job After College,” mines some of the wisdom she picked up in the ’80s and appropriates it for an even bleaker job market.

“I wanted to create a survival guide that took this job crisis seriously. This isn’t advice you’d give to just any generation. This generation is unique in history, and the same rules just don’t apply,” says Snyder, from her home in Lancaster, Pa. “They’re really caught in a double whammy. There’s obviously a recession, but there’s also a demographic crunch going on: There’s just more older people now, and they’re holding onto their jobs much longer.”
Kerrigan’s guide begins with a strong dose of emotional reassurance for post-grads feeling let down by their job status and judged by their parents.

“In my experience, the kids are more aware of the realities than the parents are. Parents are having a hard time adjusting their expectations,” says Snyder. “There is a way Americans have approached college for generations: Choose a school first, discover what you’re interested in while you’re in school and start thinking about a job in your senior year. The stakes are so much higher for these kids, and we need to start thinking about the payoff of this investment a lot sooner.”

The new realities
In her book, family college consultant Bonnie Kerrigan Snyder dissects the outdated wisdom of American higher education. Here is just one example:
Outdated thinking: A college degree ensures financial security.
The new reality: College can be a risky financial investment, and that risk needs to be hedged. A family only has so much money to help launch a child into the workforce. Diverting some of those resources toward a home or starting a business is a better strategy.

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Employers likely added 125,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, according to a Reuters survey of economists. That would be up from 114,000 in September, but would fall short of what is needed to quickly cut the jobless rate.

Indeed, economists expect the unemployment rate — a key focus in the neck-and-neck race for the White House — to tick up by a tenth of a percentage point to 7.9 percent, reversing part of a surprise drop seen in September.

The Labor Department’s closely watched report, which will be released at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT) on Friday, will be the last major report card on the economy before Tuesday’s presidential election, which pits President Obama against Republican Mitt Romney.

If economists are right, it will show the eighth straight month of lackluster job growth, a worrisome trend that would likely reinforce the Federal Reserve’s resolve to keep easy money policies in place until the economy shows more vigor.

“The weakness in overall economic growth momentum has extended into the last quarter of the year,” said Millan Mulraine, an economist at TD Securities in New York.

Romney has made the nation’s feeble jobs market, which has plagued Obama since he took office in 2009, the centerpiece of his campaign. The latest Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll showed Obama and Romney in a dead heat.

Still, the report could provide fodder for both candidates. Some economists have noted an increase in the jobless rate might have a silver lining if it is driven by Americans pouring into the labor market to restart job hunts.

Yet barring a sharp acceleration in hiring, the report will reinforce the idea that a full recovery from the 2007-09 recession remains distant. The jobless rate, which peaked during the recession at 10 percent, remains about 3 percentage points above its pre-recession level.

Whatever the outcome of the jobs report, the political impact of the report will likely be muted as most voters perceptions on the economy are likely firmly fixed by now.

FISCAL CLIFF

Even with a moderate pace of job creation, the U.S. economy faces a real threat of a renewed recession next year.

Without action by lawmakers, the existing legislation will raise taxes and cut spending to the tune of about $600 billion in 2013. That scenario — known in Washington as the “fiscal cliff” — could easily cause the economy to contract. Fears of this possibility probably led businesses to hold back on hiring last month.

“The uncertainty around the fiscal cliff has caused companies to just pause,” said John Canally, an economist at LPL Financial in Boston.

Europe’s debt crisis, which has hit factories around the world, including those in the United States, is also weighing on the U.S. economic recovery.

U.S. manufacturers are seen shedding 4,000 jobs in October, which would be the third straight monthly decline.

With the overall pace of job growth still subdued, average hourly earnings are expected to rise a tepid 0.2 percent. The average workweek is seen holding steady at 34.5 hours.

October’s projected payroll additions, if sustained, might be just enough to slowly bring down the unemployment rate.

Nonetheless, the Fed is expected to expand a new bond-buying program at the end of the year to compensate for the end of another stimulus program aimed at driving down borrowing costs.

Persistently weak labor market conditions led the central bank in September to launch a program to buy $40 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities every month until there is a sustained pick up in the labor market.

“The Fed is probably not impressed with the improvement in the job market over the past couple of months,” said Ryan Sweet, an economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

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After a subpar performance Wednesday night against a sharp Romney in their first presidential debate, Obama suddenly seems vulnerable to any bad news. That makes the Labor Department’s jobs report for September, which will be released Friday morning, a potential hurdle for Obama in the presidential race.

Polls have indicated that the weak U.S. economy and the high jobless rate – 8.1 percent in August – are voters’ top consideration in deciding who they will vote for on November 6.

The monthly unemployment report has been watched closely throughout the campaign, but never more so than on Friday and on November 2, when the October report will be released.

The September figures are to be released at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT) on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters expect the unemployment rate to be 8.0 to 8.3 percent, with non-farm payrolls adding 113,000 new jobs, up from 96,000 in August.

Republicans have been frustrated that a series of mediocre jobs reports appear to have had little effect on Obama’s campaign.

In some months, Obama has used his presidential powers to make other news that distracted from the monthly report, such as when he announced he supported gay marriage in May. At other times, campaign missteps by Romney have grabbed the spotlight.

This week, however, a bad jobs report could resonate against the president.

During Wednesday’s debate, Romney hammered Obama for his handling of the economy, and reminded voters of his own record as a successful businessman.

“The dynamics have changed after last night,” Potomac Strategies Group political analyst Greg Valliere wrote in a research note to clients on Thursday. “Obama is in trouble and may get another dose of bad news when the September jobs report is released tomorrow.”

CRACKING 8 PERCENT

Analysts said it would take an increase of 3 or more tenths of a point in the unemployment rate – to 8.4 percent or higher – to really shake voters’ faith in Obama. They noted that a drop of 2 tenths of a point – to even 7.9 percent, would be an important psychological boost.

“Something under 8 would certainly be a headline number that the White House would like to see,” Valliere said.

A middling jobs report, while not a boon for Obama, probably would not have a huge impact on the Democrat’s re-election prospects, Valliere said.

With less than five weeks before Election Day, most voters have decided who they will support. With the jobless rate above 8 percent for 43 months, they have also made up their minds about the economy.

“People are well aware already that the unemployment rate has hung high, that the recovery has been disappointing, but they’ve adjusted to all of that psychologically, and they are going to base their voting behavior to some extent on other things,” said Isabel Sawhill, an economist at the Brookings Institution.

Unemployment has been at 8 percent or above since long before Obama took office in January 2009. Polls show that most Americans do not blame him for the weak economy and trust him more on other issues.

“People still believe that (Republican) President George W. Bush is more responsible for the economic condition we’re in than President Obama,” said Michael Podhorzer, political director of the AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. labor federation and a major Obama backer.

The economy has been improving, if slowly. Gross Domestic Product is rising, consumers have reduced debt and confidence is rising. Stock prices are also high, good news for the roughly half of Americans who own shares directly or through investment funds.

There is a twist that benefits Obama in the unemployment picture. The national unemployment rate is 8.1 percent, but it is far lower in many of the battleground states where Obama and Romney are both fighting hard for votes.

Iowa’s jobless rate is 5.5 percent, New Hampshire’s is 5.7, Virginia clocks in at 5.9, Ohio at 7.2 and Wisconsin at 7.5.

Even if they do not pay attention to monthly reports, relatively strong statewide numbers make it less likely that voters in those battlegrounds would be sour on the “Obama economy” and want a change.

“I don’t think that voters pay nearly as much attention to (the national unemployment report) as either campaign professionals or economic professionals. Voters judge the state of the economy by when they are talking to their neighbors, did someone get a job offer or not,” said Matt McDonald, of the Republican-leaning Hamilton Place Strategies consultancy, an outside consultant to Romney’s campaign.

If Obama weathers the post-debate storm, and Friday’s jobless report, there is one last chance for a bad – or good – unemployment report to affect the election after all.

The last jobless report of the campaign – for October – comes out on Friday, November 2, just four days before Election Day.

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A press release sent by protester Tony Murphy, who identified himself as a member of the jobless working group, said, “The MTA is giving $2 billion to Wall Street firms and big banks, while half a million New Yorkers are suffering with no jobs or income.”

“People think of the MTA as government agency that runs on taxes, and in actuality they run on bonds that they sell on Wall Street,” Murphy said.

Murphy said focusing on the MTA was a natural progression for a movement that is all about the 99%.

“The MTA can afford to finance people. They should really reduce the rate for everybody,” said Murphy. “We are all for this demand leaning towards reduction of fare for anyone who needs to use public transportation, as well as improvement and services, which have gone down drastically. The system has really been dismantled.”

The march is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Friday at the southeast corner of Zuccotti Park.

Patrick Bruner, a designated spokesman for Occupy Wall Street, said Thursday afternoon that he had not yet heard of the plan for this march.

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“I’ve wanted to finish my bachelor’s ever since I got my associate’s in 2007,” she says. “But I’ve just had too much going on.” Soon after she was laid off last spring, though, she attended a career development event for Peirce alumni. “It helped me get clear that I need to complete my degree.”

She’s now in her third seven-week term, working toward a bachelor’s degree in business management with a concentration in human resources. In addition to classes, she’s doing an internship with the Cancer Support Community of Philadelphia. “Since I worked in corporate philanthropy for most of my career, it’s interesting to see fundraising and development from the other side,” she says. “It’s a great opportunity to see if that’s what I’ll want to do.”

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People without jobs have a pronounced tendency to unleash their fury against people in power, and no matter how much you may campaign as an “outsider,” once you’ve spent four years in the Oval Office, you’re an insider by almost any measure. And when the economy goes bad, usually insiders get punished.

But I’ve spent some time comparing unemployment figures to re-election bids of the past (oh, yes, I’m a party animal!) and the relationship is not as paint-by-number as you may think.

A high unemployment rate is not necessarily as deadly to an incumbent as conventional wisdom dictates. Ronald Reagan, early in his presidency, presided over some shockingly big jobless digits, slightly worse than anything we’ve seen under President Obama. Yet, he survived nicely.

Others have, too. The secret is not in the numbers alone, but rather, in the trend. With rare exceptions, voters will hold onto a sitting president even with high unemployment figures if those numbers appear to be dropping. In Reagan’s case, the unemployment figures steadily fell as he made his way toward re-election, so that by November the rough days seemed a distant memory to many voters.

This pattern suggests that President Obama does not in fact have to bring unemployment down below 8, 7 or 6 percent if he wants to keep himself out of the unemployment line. He just has to get it moving convincingly in the right direction.

After all, look at it this way. We all put up with bosses who may not be ideal — often through long, hard times at the office — as long as we believe they can keep us gainfully employed. But many workers will revolt in a heartbeat against a boss whom they fear is endangering everyone’s employment, even if their jobs are secure for the moment.

So lowering the unemployment rate is the goal; but in terms of re-election, bending the trend may suffice.

– CNN’s Tom Foreman is a regular on “AC360°”/www.ac360.com and “The Situation Room.”
Metro does not endorse the opinions of the author, or any opinions expressed on its pages. Opposing viewpoints are welcome. Send 300-word submissions to letters@metro.us.

The post Unemployment: bending the trend appeared first on Metro.us.

July numbers show that about 16.6 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds are unemployed right now.

10.8 percent of 25 to 29-year-olds are also out of work.

Unemployment is significantly higher for people under 30 than any other age range. Only people 30 to 34-years-old come close with an unemployment rate of 8.4 percent.

25-year-old Matthew Segal says he founded the non-profit organization OUR TIME to stand up for Americans under 30. In fact, he’s calling on members of Congress to cancel their vacations immediately and get back to work on unemployment during a time when young adults are struggling to nail down careers.

“Discern your best talent and market the hell out of it! Just get out there and begin networking like crazy,” Segal recommends to young adults. “Jobs and opportunities often arise from the least expected places. Also, volunteer frequently. Those positions often turn into job offers if the employer likes you.”

Segal says he’s concerned about the future ramifications for young people who are unemployed right now.

“Even more worrisome are the studies that show early unemployment being linked to lower income, broken families, and decreased happiness later in life.”

OUR TIME features a “Buy Young” section on its website, offering discounts up to 60 percent on products from young companies. Segal says the young companies featured have already created a combined 7,000 jobs.

“We believe it’s important to support them because they look out for OUR TIME’s constituency, Americans under 30. They grow fast and hire young,” says Segal. “Their companies have social agendas aimed at improving communities. And they are rethinking old business models and changing corporate cultures.”

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“A lot of young people want to get their dream job right away, but it’s more of a marathon than a sprint,” says Andy Teach, author of “From Graduation to Corporation: The Practical Guide to Climbing the Corporate Ladder One Rung at a Time.” “It’s something that everyone should consider, especially in this economy.”

Here’s why you may want to give temping a chance.

It can lead to a long-term position

Plenty of employers treat temp positions as an opportunity to test-drive a potential full-timer. But even if the project has a very limited time frame, you still have the chance to network with managers who may have openings. “Find a company you really want to work for. If it’s a great working environment, it’s worth just getting in there,” says Teach. “You have to think long-term — you’ll be down the hall from the people you want to talk to.”

You’ll get an honest preview of the job

There’s nothing worse than making it through three rounds of interviews only to realize that the management structure is worse than the coffee. “When you interview for a job, you never really know what’s waiting for you,” says Teach. “Temping can give you a priceless insight.”

There’s no commitment

If you settle for the wrong full-time gig, you’ll have to give notice — and hopefully not navigate a no-compete contract — if a better job comes along. The same isn’t true for temporary positions. “If it doesn’t work out, you don’t have to worry so much about loyalty,” says Teach.

Get LinkedIn

Been ignoring those LinkedIn reminders to complete your profile since you signed up two years ago? Log in and fill it out immediately, advises Teach: “Employers are looking at it — they’re really checking it now. For some, it’s like you’re invisible if you’re not on LinkedIn.”

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Job openings — a measure of labor demand — rose 99,000 to 3.12 million, the highest since September 2008, the Labor Department said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.

It was the first time since November 2008 that job openings have been at or above 3.0 million for two straight months. Still, job openings remain well below the pre-recession level of 4.4 million.

The report was the latest to suggest the labor market recovery remains intact, despite a recent rise in first-time applications for state unemployment benefits and an uptick in the unemployment rate in April.

The private sector accounted for about 88.7 percent of the job openings in March, with most of the vacancies in education and health services, trade, transportation and utilities — as well as professional and businesses services.

Job hires increased to 4.04 million in March. Though hiring has recovered from a low of 3.6 million in October 2009, it remains well below the pre-recession level of 5 million.

The level of layoffs and discharges were little changed at 1.60 million and has declined from a peak of 2.5 million in February 2009.

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1. Communication
Discuss with your family what your job search strategy is and what steps you have taken or plan to take in the near future. Communication is critical in families, particularly in times of stress and crisis when many people tend to withdraw.

2. Empathy
Remember that job transitions affect the entire family. Everyone needs support and understanding. If you have children, listen to their concerns and keep in mind that most children are egocentric.

3. Optimism
Be a role model for your family in how to deal with crisis and change. Your children will be in a job search someday and will remember how you handled it. They learn from your behavior, so it’s best to model positive behavior.

4. Self-confidence
If you have confidence in yourself, your family and significant other will have more confidence that you can and will find another job. You need to think and act in terms of when you find your next job and not if you will find another job.

5. Conflict management
Accept that there will be disagreements and work to resolve them. It takes less energy to deal with a conflict when it first arises than it does after months of letting it build up. Dealing with disagreements openly can help everyone move in a positive direction. Know that you might not agree at the end of your discussion. In fact, you may have to come to an agreement to disagree with each other at some point.

6. Adaptability
During times of stress, it is normal to resort back to old, established and comfortable ways of doing things, but stressful times are often when new ideas and strategies need to be tried. Encourage each other to be flexible.

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