Queens Employment At Record High Local Jobless Rate Plummets 48 Percent Since June 1997

Fueled by a booming economy, a record number of Queens residents are working today, according to a four-year study released by the State Department of Labor.
Highlighting the state statistical report was a dramatic four-year, 48 percent drop in the boroughs unemployment rate (June 2000 vs. June 1997). Local joblessness dropped at nearly twice a swifter pace than the rest of the city.
The report also revealed that nearly one million Queens workers New York Citys largest labor pool are currently gainfully employed. During this four-year period, Queens residents have swelled the boroughs employment roster at the rate of 1,360 newly-created jobs per month.
City Council Speaker Peter Vallone (D-22 CD) called the booming economy "good news for the people of Queens." He cited this years City Council budget which included an Outer Borough Development Plan "which gives tax breaks and incentives to companies who locate outside of Manhattans Central Business District."
The boroughs increasingly high labor pool figures also give statistical credence to constant reports of its crowded classrooms, jammed highways, and packed subway trains.
Joseph Farber, president of the 1,150-member Queens chamber of Commerce, said that borough employment figures reflected a booming economy that was being professionally boosted by his organization.
Key chamber programs for Queens, he said, were the continued expansion of local exports, increased application for government contracts, Workmans Compensation reform, and development of a one-seat ride to and from the airports to speed travel and cut traffic congestion caused by its motoring 45,000 employees.
The Queens business boom is being helped, said Farber, by a large pool of trained workers, as well as moderately-priced office and factory space.
Significantly, State Labor Department figures revealed that development of new local businesses spurted while other long-time operations declined:
 Jobs called "business services" (which includes computer services and accounting) jumped nearly four percent in the past year.
 Manufacturing jobs, long a Queens mainstay, declined four percent during the same period.
Pointing to the recent expansion of technological space in Long Island City, Queens Borough President Claire Shulman was not surprised. "Our Economic Development Office provides ongoing assistance for new and existing firms that wish to start up new operations, relocate or expand their services," she declared. Shulman said that her boroughs offices also linked firms, planning to move or expand, with other government agencies.
According to the Labor Department, hard-working Queens residents make up 29 percent of New York Citys employed force.