GOOD JOB! BIG APPLE UNEMPLOYMENT SINKS

By DAVID SEIFMAN City Hall Bureau Chief

November 17, 2006 -- If the subways seem more crowded than ever during rush hour, here's one reason why: The city's unemployment rate fell last month to 4.1 percent, the lowest level in 30 years.

"The number is catching a lot of attention," said James Brown, an analyst for the state Labor Department, which has been compiling the data since 1976.

It was just a year ago, in October 2005, that the unemployment rate here stood at 5.8 percent.

Jason Bram, an economist at the New York Federal Reserve Bank, said last month's drop from 4.5 percent in September isn't simply a statistical blip.

"The reason it's particularly good news is sometimes this unemployment rate at the local level can jump around a little bit. In this case, it's gone down for a few months in a row," he explained.

The increase in jobs is being felt on the front lines.

"It hasn't been this fruitful since 2000," said Hillary Taylor, who has run her own employment agency in lower Manhattan for 31 years. "There's not enough qualified candidates."

Dave Lewis, who described himself as a fulfillment manager at Wall Street Services, a temp agency, agreed.

"It's an applicants' job market right now," he said.

"We have a great pool of applicants used as repeaters. We're now finding we have quite a few extra job orders."

Lewis' agency fills a wide range of temp positions, from $20-an-hour administrative assistants to high-end financial analysts who command $125 or more an hour.

Bram, the Federal Reserve economist, noted that the city's unemployment figures were actually lower than the nation's 4.4 percent.

"It's very unusual," he said. "It's not only a record low, but it's below the national rate."

Mayor Bloomberg quickly pointed to the numbers as evidence that his economic strategy is lifting all five boroughs.

"New York City's economic future was uncertain after September 11th, but no one makes a comeback like New Yorkers, and today's news is a testament to the strength and vibrancy of our economy," the mayor said.

But Marcia Van Wagner, the deputy city comptroller, sounded a more cautionary note.

"The mayor is definitely accentuating the positive here," she said.

While the number of New Yorkers employed jumped by 15,400 last month to more than 3.5 million, Van Wagner pointed out that private-sector payroll employment was down by 5,000.

"I think a lot of people are scratching their heads," she said. "The speculation is there's a lot more self-employment that wouldn't show up in a survey of employers. But that's purely speculative."

The most jobs were added in education and health services. Manufacturing actually lost jobs.

The Labor Department is projecting that the single job with the most openings through 2012 - 11,300 a year - will be cashier.

But the median pay is only $16,290.

david.seifman@nypost.com