NYS gets U.S. grant to help jobless

New York State has received a $10.3-million federal grant to help unemployed workers find jobs faster, the most of any state, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's office announced Thursday.

The grant is part of nearly $66 million the U.S. Labor Department awarded to 40 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., as part of its Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment initiative. The program's aim is to help the areas' One-Stop Career Centers conduct more in-person interviews with unemployed workers to determine their continued eligibility for unemployment benefits and to provide more individualized referrals for training and jobs.

"New York's One-Stop Career Centers have helped connect thousands of unemployed New Yorkers with businesses looking to hire," Cuomo said in a statement.

The state Labor Department will use the money to beef up services at 53 One-Stop Career Centers, including four on Long Island.

The governor's office said the money would be used to support the current 115 job coaching positions at the One-Stops and to add 20 more. Long Island has three coaches, the state Labor Department said. Local areas will be able to apply for the money in coming weeks.

Long Island and most other areas around the state have continued to experience high unemployment rates, even though the recession ended almost three years ago. Many jobless workers here are among the long-term unemployed.

Long Island's unemployment rate was 7.2 percent in March, unchanged from a year earlier, and remains considerably above the pre-recession 3.7 percent of March 2007. New York State's rate is 8.7 percent. The rates aren't seasonally adjusted.

This is the eighth year of the federal grants. The U.S. Department of Labor said that evaluations of its grant program have shown that it helps people to become employed faster, thus reducing the number of weeks they claim unemployment benefits.