Officials from New York City are boasting that the city’s unemployment rate has dropped a mouth-dropping .1%, from 10.5% to 10.4%. This compares to the average 8.8% for the month. To think that such a negligible dip in the unemployment rate is indicative of what’s to come in the job market is ludicrous. A .1% decrease is hardly anything to get excited about. With the federal government continuing to focus on health care reform and other issues, jobs are continuing to go by the wayside. Many states are now offering extensions in unemployment benefits as people continue to struggle in finding work. New York is but one of the states that offers unemployment benefits beyond the standard 26 week period.

California is among the states with the highest unemployment figures, ringing it at a disturbing 12.5% for the second consecutive month in a row. It trails Michigan and Nevada, two states that have been hit hard by the recession. Although the stabilizing act is encouraging, many continue to fear that the unemployment rates won’t drastically change for a significant period of time. So, while there is no light at the end of the tunnel quite yet, there are some slightly comforting signs. We can only hope that these figures begin to dip by larger margins and that the economy eases into recovery.