More than 100,000 New York City workers are likely to find themselves unemployed, at least temporarily, as a result of the World Trade Center disaster, according to government estimates released Tuesday.
Already, 10,800 people who have asked the New York State Department of Labor for unemployment assistance have attributed their situation to the terrorist attack on the twin towers and its fallout throughout the economy.
Some of the people who are out of a job -- janitors, hotel cashiers, store clerks -- worked in or near the towers. Many more -- waiters, limousine drivers, flight attendants -- worked far from ground zero but are economic victims of the aftershocks like the steep drop in tourism.
And the fate of many in other occupations -- printing, securities, the garment industry -- will depend on the stock market and on how quickly the city's economy rebounds, economists and labor analysts said.
Even before the disaster, the city's economy, once red-hot, had cooled significantly. In August, New York City companies employed 8,200 fewer people than in July, according to the city comptroller's office, which said it was the steepest monthly decline in five years. The unemployment rate jumped to 5.8 percent in August; it was 5.0 percent the month before.
"In all likelihood, the city was showing signs of recession before this happened," said Barbara Byrne Denham, a private economist.
Unemployment insurance
But the disaster will add significantly to the ranks of the unemployed. About 75,000 people who worked in the city are likely to apply for unemployment insurance because of the disaster, Emily DeRocco, an assistant secretary of labor, said on Tuesday at a news conference in Washington.
An additional 37,500 are expected to receive special unemployment benefits under the Disaster Unemployment Assistance program that will be available to those who worked in the five boroughs of New York City and are not eligible for regular unemployment insurance payments.
In total, about 700,000 of the almost 4 million jobs in the city have been affected in some way by the devastation at ground zero, said Stuart Roy, a Department of Labor spokesman.
Federal aid
Not only have many people lost their jobs, but companies that continue to operate have also lost everything from phone service to a week's revenues. People who are paid on commission lost income, while some people simply could not get to work because of transportation problems.
The new unemployment figures are based on estimates from the New York State Department of Labor, which tried to forecast how much federal aid the city might need. The state's unemployment insurance fund has more than a billion dollars in it, and it can draw upon federal help should that become necessary, Roy said.
People who qualify for unemployment insurance are eligible for as much as US$405 a week for up to six months. Those who are not eligible for unemployment insurance -- because, for example, they are self-employed -- can apply for the disaster unemployment assistance program, which provides the same amount of money. A family in which the breadwinner has died because of the disaster may also be eligible; all benefits are awarded on a case-by-case basis.
Of course, some workers will find themselves in demand in the coming months. Construction workers, for example, are very likely to be in short supply.
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