Some 70,000 New Yorkers lost their jobs in October, a 5 percent increase over the previous month and the most in more than four years, according to a report available on www.nypolitics.com yesterday.

Compared with a year ago, the number of people on unemployment in October rose by nearly 20,000, or 37 percent, the sharpest year-over-year increase since May 2002, the New York State Department of Labor was cited as saying.

The city lost 7,000 private sector jobs in October, the large stone-month loss in the recent downturn, statistics show.

"The loss of jobs in October clearly indicates that New York City has entered a recession," economist Barbara Byrne Denham was quoted as saying.

Surprisingly, the city lost only 700 securities jobs last month, despite announcements that indicate massive layoffs. Economists theorize that many laid-off Wall Street workers are still being carried on payrolls because of severance packages, said the report.