New York, New York. It's A Blunderful Town

Among major cities, only New York has seen an increase in joblessness over the past year.

New York City’s unemployment rate shot up to 9.7 percent through May 2012, despite adding thousands of jobs to the economy. The near one percent increase from May 2011 made the Big Apple the only major U.S. city to see joblessness increase over the year and gave it the second highest unemployment rate among big cities, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The unemployment increase alarmed political leaders in the city.

“Over-regulation and over-taxation have driven our small and mid-size businesses out—the net effect of these types of policies is not job creation, but job loss and the unemployment numbers speak to that,” said Councilman Dan Halloran (R., Queens). “The mayor is stuck working with a Council with 47 Democrats and only three Republicans and that has led to soaring taxes and fees on property [owners], commuters, and small business owners.”

Ban 17 ounce soda pop!